"J LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.? 



hap, 



# 

OF AMERICA. | 



UNITED STATES 



11U 

THE HISTORY 



CHURCH OF CHEIST, 



TRUE AND FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS OF JESUS. 



EXEMPLIFIED BY THEIR LIFE AND CHARACTER, IDENTIFIED BY 

THEIR CHURCH POLITY AND DOCTRINE. 

FROM ITS ORGANIZATION TO THE PRESENT TIME. 



BY ELDER THOS. H. OWEN. 



AND BY REQUEST OF THE AUTHOR IS NOW FIRST PUBLISHED 
IN BOOK FORM, TOGETHER WITH APPENDIX. 



BY ALBERT E. UITTS. 



INDIANAPOLIS: 

SENTINEL COMPANY, PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 

1872. 






THE LIBRARY 
OF CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, 

BY ALBERT F. UITTS, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



LC Control Number 



tmp96 028678 



THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



Having experienced, while engaged in the ministry, for over 
twenty-seven years, the inconvenience and great want of a thorough 
knowledge of the history and progress of the Baptists, (the Church 
of Christ,) from the Apostles down through the dark ages of Popery 
to the present time ; and knowing that very many of our denomina- 
tion are still laboring under great disadvantage for want of a thor- 
ough knowledge of these things in defending the church from 
aspersions and taunts of the children of the bond-woman ; and hav- 
ing of late been enabled to procure different works containing this 
desirable and very important information, I propose giving a com- 
pendium thereof through the columns of the Southern Baptist Mes- 
senger. I have watched the pages of our Old School papers with 
a great deal of solicitude for years, hoping, after perusing the last 
number, that the next would bring us news of some brother engaging 
in the work. But up to this time, my desires have not been real- 
ized. And such information now would be seized upon by me as 
an excuse to abandon the undertaking. This work necessarily must 
be short and concise, and for the purpose of comprehending the 
most in a short space, we have concluded to take it up by Centuries, 
showing the faith and practice of the Church in each century, and 
noting the time of the rise of certain false doctrines which are now 
practised by the Church of Anti-Christ. 

We design our comments to be as short as possible,*without ren- 
dering the work unintelligible. We shall give facts, as they are 
detailed by historians of different ages, and shall prefer quoting 
Pedo-Baptist historians, where their testimonies are to the point. 

Zem Zem, Cal, 1859. 



THE EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



Dear Reader: As nothing is more common, when we take up 
any new publication for perusal, than to cast our eyes on the title- 
page or preface, so that by going into the porch we may form some 
idea of what is inside of the edifice. 

One of the great inconveniences to the common people have been 
that our Church histories are too voluminous; the price is so high, 
and the reader has to go over such a mass of reading matter, that 
but few persons can spare the time, even if they had the patience to 
prosecute the task. This history is arranged in such a manner that 
a person wishing to know the state of the Church in any century, 
he can turn to that century and find their character, doctrine, and 
church polity, given plain and pointed, with a very concise account 
of their worship, from the days of the Apostles to the present time. 
These people, who suffered persecution for righteousness' sake, have, 
in all ages, been hunted and driven like wild beasts by their enemies 
from mountain to dale, from valley to hill, and have been known by 
different names, as their enemies saw fit to stigmatize these poor 
people with (witnesses for the truth). 

In presenting this excellent work to the attention and patronage 
of the American people, we feel satisfied of the fact that the author 
of this work, in his laborious task, renders essential service to the 
cause of truth, and to the reader a rich intellectual repast. He has, 
with much persevering industry, had free access to a wide range of 
ecclesiastical information, gathering materials from both frieml and 
foe, and has manifested his love of the truth in his unyielding 
attachment for religious liberty, which we find exemplified through- 
out his whole history and life. 

And now whosoever they be that has learned of the Father of all 
mercies that salvation is entirely and unconditionally free to the poor 
sinner, without money or the price of money, to all such this little 
book will be a welcome visitor indeed. May the great Head of the 
Church bless and crown its circulation. 

ALBERT F. UITTS. 

Whitestown, Ind., June 25th, 1872. 

Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughter'd saints, whose bones 

Lie scatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold; 

Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old, 

"When all our fathers worshipp'd stocks and stones, 
Forget not: in thy book record their groans 

Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold 

Slain by the bloody Piedmontese that roll'd 

Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans 
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they 

To Heaven. Their martyr'd blood and ashes sow 

O'er all the Italian fields, where still doth sway 
The triple tyrant; that from these may grow 

A hundred-fold, who having learn'd thy way 

Early may fly the Babylonian woe. — Milton. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



FIRST CENTURY. 



We have the history of the Church for the first century recorded 
in the writings of the Apostles, the last of which were near its 
close. 

We see a manifestation of the proneness of man to err from the 
truth, even in the first century, while the Apostles were yet with 
them. We hear the Apostle Paul informing the brethren at Thessa- 
lonica, that " the mystery of iniquity cloth already work," etc. And 
the writings of the early Fathers inform us of the rapid progress of 
the Man of sin, during the second and third centuries, until the true 
and faithful followers of the Lamb could no longer bear the cor- 
rupt practices of many of the churches. 

It seems that the Gospel was extensively preached by the Apos- 
tles in different parts of Asia. It appears probable that the Gospel 
was preached in Idumea, Syria and Messopotamia by Jude ; in Pon- 
tus, Galatia, and the neighboring parts of Asia, by Peter ; in the 
territories of the Seven Asiatic Churches by John ; in Parthia by 
Matthew ; in Scythia by Philip and Andrew ; in the northern and 
western parts of Asia by Bartholomew; in Persia by Simon and 
Jude ; in Media, Carmania, and several eastern parts by Thomas ; 
from Jerusalem to Illyricum by Paul, as also in Italy ; in most of 
which places Christian churches were planted in less than thirty 
years after Christ, and ten before the destruction of Jerusalem. 
(See A. Young on Idolatry.) 

These worthy men, scattered as they were, at Stephen's death, 
went everywhere preaching the word. They disseminated the celes- 
tial seed in all the provinces and cities through which they passed. 
Many Christian societies were gathered and formed by them, all 
bearing a striking resemblance to the parent institution. Mosh. 
Hist., Cen. 1. 

During most of the reign of Nero, the disciples of Jesus suifered 
great persecution. Among the martyrs of this period (64) are enu- 
merated Peter and Paul. The number of martyrs in the first ages 
was very great, which is allowed by all impartial historians. Mosh.' 
Hist., c. i, pt. 1, c. 5. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OP CHRIST. 



In 98, when Trajan ascended the throne, the third persecution 
was set on foot. The severity of his edicts was felt in Pontus and 
Bythinia, over which provinces the younger Pliny was Governor. 
The profession of Christianity was so general in Asia, that the Gov- 
ernor in enforcing Trajan's measures against Christians, perceived 
that their extinction would nearly anihilate the inhabitants of his 
province. He acknowledged, in writing to the Emperor, that the 
heathen temples were forsaken. Epis., C. 10. 

It was a regular custom at this period for Christians to meet 
together for divine worship, to sing hymns to Christ, who was wor- 
shiped as God almost throughout the East; to exhort one another 
to abstain from all evil, and to commemorate Christ's death ; to 
observe the first day of the week, which was regarded by all Chris- 
tians. Mosh. Hist", v: 1, 91, and 109. Yet Pliny calls'these heav- 
enly engagements "a depraved superstition." Such views the most 
polished heathens encouraged, respecting the doctrines of the cross 
and spiritual worship. Orchard Hist, of Baptists, p. 108. 

It has been asserted with considerable grounds of probability, that 
the Gospei was preached in Gaul (France) by the great Apostle of 
the Gentiles ; but we have no records that mention with certainty, 
the establishment of Christianity in Trans-Alpine Gaul before the 
second century. Pothinus, or Photinus, a man of exemplary piety 
and zeal, set out from Asia and labored in the Christian cause with 
success among the Gauls (A. D. 110,) that from his efforts churches 
were established at Lyons and Vienna, of which Photinus himself 
Avas the first pastor. It seems the Gospel was preached in Africa 
before the middle of the first century. It is not certain by whom the 
Gospel was first preached to the people of Ethiopia. The current 
opinion is, that the Eunuch first, and afterwards Mathias, labored in 
those parts, and that Mark, in 39, with Simon and Jude, preached 
in Egypt, Memorica, Mauritania, and other parts of Africa. Young 
on Idolatry, vol. ii, p. 116. It is recorded that Mark baptized Au- 
zebius on a confession of his faith, and that this Evangelist was 
martyred by the people of Alexandria. The Christians, during the 
most of this century, suffered very great persecution by the Pagan 
authorities. And those, many of them, who were not put to death, 
W( re stripped of their property and means of support, so that their 
lives were little more than a scene of suffering. From which we 
may conclude that none attached themselves to the Church but those 
who had been " taught of the Lord," repented of sin, reformed 
their lives, and become willing to forsake all earthly considerations, 
for the cause of Christ. 

Such a state of things offered very few inducements to corrupt 
men to profess Christianity. Consequently, we may suppose, the 
Church entered the second century with her ordinances pure, and 
her discipline uncorrupted. 



DURING THE SECOND CENTURY. 



SECOND CENTURY. 

"We now find the Church on her march of time, without an Apos- 
tle living to direct and admonish her. She is now left to steer her 
way by the canonical writings, attended by the Spirit of Truth, 
which the Saviour promised should abide with her. 

In the year 98 Trajan became possessed of the sceptre, whose 
prejudices were very strong against the followers of the Lamb. 
Persecuting edicts were issued, and the commencement of the cen- 
tury was the beginning of fresh trials to the professors of the Gospel. 
Adrian rather improved the condition of Christians. In A. D. 117, 
Titus Antoninus Pius succeeded, and proved himself a mild prince ; 
but when Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ascended the throne he issued 
his cruel measures, and Polycarp, with many in Asia and France, 
were called to martyrdom. In A. D. ISO, Commodus became head 
of the government, and the condition of Christians became toler- 
able ; but on Severus succeeding, the aspect was changed towards 
the churches. Asia, Gaul, Egypt, and other provinces, were dyed 
in Christians' blood. 

All historians speak of the Christian Church sustaining, to an 
eminent degree, the character of a pure virgin, for above one hundred 
years. The severity of the times would check insincere persons 
taking a profession, the examples of the Apostles and their success- 
ors were still kept in view; besides, the churches were composed of 
obscure persons, in the estimation of the world, nor did learning 
adorn her ministers, so* as to awaken any fears of rivalship among 
the philosophers or literati of the day. Yet their obscurity, with 
their excess of virtue, was no guard to their lives or property. 
Orchard Hist. Bap., p. 19. 

The Christian churches instituted in the cities of the Poman Em- 
pire were united only by the ties of faith and charity. Independency 
and equality formed the basis of their internal constitution; and 
they were in every way corresponding to churches of the Baptist 
denomination at the present day, in, the dismission of members, 
discussing aifairs, or excluding offenders. Though the churches 
maintained a primitive cparacter for more than a hundred years, yet 
during this century, and particularly towards its close, the Scrip- 
tural simplicity of the institution became obscured from the intro- 
duction of various rites borrowed from the Old Testament, and 
baptism was now supposed to convey some peculiar advantages to 
the receiver. There being persons of narrow capacities, the teach- 
ers of religion thought it advisable or expedient to instruct such in 
the essential truths of the Gospel, by placing those truths, as it 
were, before their eyes, under visible objects or images. By these 
and other expedients, the purity of the original institution became 
sophisticated ; and once the ministers of religion had departed from 
the ancient simplicity of the Gospel, and sullied the native purity of 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



divine truth by a motley mixture of human inventions, and it was 
difficult to set bounds to this growing corruption. Gibbon's, Mosh., 
Wall's and others' Histories. 

Orchard says, the first and the most fatal of all events to the 
primitive religion, was the setting up of a Christian Academy at 
Alexandria. Christians had been reproached with illiteracy, and 
this seemed a plausible method to get rid of the scandal. This 
school was established about the year A. D. 170, and was first kept 
by Pantanus, whom Clement assisted, and then succeeded, as Origen 
did him. In this school baptism was first associated with a learned 
education. Here minor baptism began with young gentlemen under 
age, and afterwards gradually descended to boys of seven years of 
age, where it stood for centuries in the hierarchies. Here youths 
were first incorporated and became church members by baptism. 
Before baptism had only signified a profession of the religion at 
large. In this school human creeds Mere first taught and united 
with baptism. Id., page 227. 

The evils attendant on the union of Christianity with Judaism, 
Paganism, and Philosophy, which was effected in this school, occa- 
sioned swarms of dissidents in Africa. 

This is about the first account we have of open resistance being 
made to the growing evils that began to be practiced in the Church. 
It seems that the Alexandrian school was the nursery in which 
nearly all the evils were germinated, the practice of which finally 
led to Popery. What an important lesson this to all future ages, 
had they only learned wisdom by it. And will the people of the 
nineteenth century, with all these facts before them, persist in teach- 
ing their children religion, as a common science of education, the 
outer forms of which, when learned, constitute them fit subjects for 
membership in the Church? If the practice corrupted the Church 
in the second century, what will it do in the nineteenth? 

Mosheim says, "Converted Jews came into this new system with 
their full attachment to the mint, anise and cummin of their old 
economy. Heathens, alike converted, professed this Christianity, 
and at the same time respected the departed manes of their ances- 
tors." Others were equally accommodated on the ground of allowed 
truths, and all this motley group were held together by forbearance 
and charity; and to complete this system of expediency in Africa, the 
teachers declared the employment of falsehood in the cause of virtue 
was harmless. Mosh. Hist. C. 2, p. 2, C. 1 and 6-11. 

Orchard, on page 225, speaks of the people called Waldenses 
now, but in the second century called Credenti. He says, " How- 
ever remote their antiquity, no records exists as to any of their 
churches being Apostolical ; though the fact is beyond all contradic- 
tion that early and late dissenters in religion were found in these 
valleys, and in other provinces, who were never in communion with 
the Church." Again he says, "Though we have no document to 
prove Apostolic foundation for those Churches, yet it becomes evi- 



DURING THE SECOND CENTURY. 



dent that some communities did exist here in the second century, 
sincait is recorded they practiced believers' baptism by immersion. 
Whether these societies were gathered by the Apostles, or their suc- 
cessors, or whether they originated with those emigrants who left 
the cities under the persecuting edicts of Marcus Aurelius Antoni- 
nus, we have no means of deciding." Robins, Res., pp. 422, 440, 
448. 

As we shall necessarily have to allude frequently to this people, 
and their isolated situation from other countries, we deem it expedi- 
ent to give the reader a description of the bounds and locality of the 
countay, as given in Orchard's History of the Baptists, page 254: 

"There is a range of mountains, the highest in Europe, extending 
from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean seas, and separating Italy 
from France, Switzerland and Germany. The principality of Pied- 
mont derives its name from its locality, being situated at the foot of 
the Alps; pede, foot — montium, mountains. It is an extensive tract 
of rich and fruitful valleys, containing a superficial extent of thir- 
teen thousand square miles, and is embosomed in mountains, which 
are encircled again with other mountains higher than they, inter- 
sected with deep and rapid rivers, and exhibiting in strong contrast 
the beauty and plenty of Paradise in sight of frightful precipices, 
wide lakes of ice, and stupendous mountains of never-wasting snow. 
The whole country is an interchange of hill and dale, mountain and 
valley, traversed with four principal rivers — namely, the Po, the 
Tanaro, the Stura, and the Dora, besides about eight-and-twenty 
rivulets, great and small, which, winding their courses in different 
directions, contribute to the fertility of the valleys, which make the 
land, on a map, to resemble a watered garden. Such was the sur- 
rounding scenery of those people who were, at different periods, 
driven into the wilderness. Rev. xii: 6. May we not conclude, 
then, they had not only chosen the better part, but were directed to 
an earthly Eden to enjoy it?" Rob. Ecc. Res., p. 458; Jones' Ecc. 
Lee, vol. 2, p. 416. 

We have made a hasty sketch of the most important incidents of 
the Church during the second century. We find a disposition in 
the clergy to accommodate the religion of Jesus to the superstitious 
and selfish notions of both Jews and Pagans. This digression, no 
doubt, originated from a desire to gain accessions to the Church, 
which led to a laxity of discipline, and filling the Church with cor- 
rupt members that never were fit subjects for her ordinances. 

This century ends without any efforts being made to change the 
ordinance of baptism. None of the histories of this age allude to 
infant baptism, or any change from immersion to sprinkling or 
pouring. 

It seems that the Alexandrian school originated a sentiment that 
the natural mind must be powerfully impressed with literal knowl- 
edge of Christianity, which knowledge constituted them fit subjects 
for baptism; and to aid young minds and weak capacities, they 



10 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



adopted the use of images, which have gained such notoriety in the 
Church of Rome. 

And from the historical character of the sentiments taught by 
many divines in this century, we see a gradual leaning toward the 
idea of making baptism essential to salvation. This is making too 
much of a good thing, and attaching an improper virtue to baptism — 
making it regeneration, instead of a figure of regeneration — paved 
the way for a change of words, and the change of subjects of bap- 
tism; which threw the door wide open for the entrance of Arminian- 
Lsm, or salvation by works. 



THIRD CENTURY. 

Third century we commence with the Churches in Italy. Mr. 
Orchard says: " While the interests of religion retained their Scrip- 
tural character, all were upon equality, and each society possessed its 
government within itself; so that no one Church originally can 
claim our attention more than another. The Churches during this 
early period were strictly Baptist in their practice and constitution. 
These early interests stood perfectly free of Rome, and at after 
periods refused her communion. As Churches rose into importance, 
contentions about offices were frequent, and tumults ensued; but 
having no secular aid, their rage against each other spent itself in 
reproaches, and often subsided into apathy. The disappointed, the 
disaffected, the oppressed, the injured, with the pious, had only to 
retire from the scene of strife, and they were safe. And while the 
express command (2 Thess. iii : 6,) regulated dissidents, other causes 
and motives combined to increase their numbers. Since 250 they 
became very numerous, as already stated. Liberty of soul is the 
breath, the element, the existence of that religion inculcated in the 
New Testament, of which liberty the Baptists have ever been the 
most open advocates. Robin's Resear., p. 641. 'Ye have one 
Master even Christ, and all ye are brethren.' The voice of Moses 
and the prophets, with Jesus and his Apostles, urge on all who fear 
God singleness of motive, blamelessness of character, and in their 
social standing purity of communion. In obedience to whose heav- 
enly injunctions, men and women have 'come out' of impure com- 
munities, and with such persons, actuated by divine motives, we now 
hope to associate." 

When Decius came to the throne in 249, he required by edicts all 
persons in the empire to conform to Pagan worship. Forty years' 
toleration had greatly increased professors of Christianity, and they 
were found in every department of the government. They had 



DURING THE THIRD CENTURY. 11 



been so long unaccustomed to trials, that the lives of many were 
unsuited to suffering. 

Decius' edicts rent asunder the Churcl\es, multitudes apostatized, 
and many were martyred. In two years the trial abated, when 
many apostates applied for restoration to Christian fellowship, and 
accompanied their applicatiou by letters, written by some eminent 
Christians, who had been martyrs during the persecution. Dupin 
says, "from this circumstance arose prayer to saints." Dupin's 
Hist., C. 3, p. 125. The flagrancy of some apostates occasioned an 
opposition to their readmission. One Novatian, a proselyter in the 
Church of Rome, strongly opposed the readmission of apostates, 
but he was not successful. The choice of a pastor in tne same 
Church fell upon Cornelius, whose election Novatian opposed, 
because of his readiness to readmit apostates. Novatian conse- 
quently separated himself from the Church, and from Cornelius' 
jurisdiction. 

Novatian, with every considerate person, was disgusted with the 
hasty admission of such apostates to communion, and with the con- 
duct of many pastors who were more concerned about members than 
purity of communion. Novatian was the first to begin a separate 
interest with success, and which was known for centuries by his 
name. One Novatus of Carthage, coming to Home, united himself 
with Novatian, and their combined efforts were attended with 
remarkable success. 

We have now arrived at the point where the foundation was laid 
by Novatian and his adherents, for a lasting division between, what 
may be termed the particular or strict constructionist, and the liberal 
or broad constructionist ; the former, with Novatian as the leader, 
who was shortly found and assisted by Novatus from Carthage; the 
latter, with Cornelius as their leader, who, under the influence of 
Cyprian of Carthage, whose loose conduct in discipline had been 
opposed by Novatus, called a council and excommunicated Novatian. 
Of "course his council was of the liberal party. We may reasonably 
suppose that very many of the faithful followers of the Redeemer 
, had become grieved and tired of the corruptions practiced in the 
Churches; and it was only necessary for some bold defender of the 
truth to come out and declare against them, to insure the aid and 
assistance of all those that had viewed with sorrow the declining 
state of the Church. Novatian, aided by Novatus, and no doubt 
other gospel preachers that had espoused the Novatian cause, soon 
established Churches in cities, towns and countries. Euselieus says, 
"Novatian became the first pastor in the new interest, and is accused 
of the crime of giving birth to an innumerable multitude of congre- 
gations of Puritans in every part of the Roman Empire; and yet all 
the influence he exercised was an upright example and moral suasion. 
These Churches flourished until the fifth century." Mosheim says: 
"They considered the Church as a society where -virtue and inno- 
cence reigned universally, and none of whose members from their 



12 HISTOKY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



entrance into it, had defiled themselves with any enormous crimes; 
and of consequence they looked upon every society which readmit- 
ted heinous offenders to its f communion as unworthy of the title of a 
true Christian Church." Mr. Jones says: "In the year 251, Nova- 
tian was ordained the pastor of a church in the city of Rome, which 
maintained no fellowship with the Catholic party." 

Historians speak of Novatian as being a man of great learning 
and irreproachable morals. There were many hard things said of 
him and his followers. They were complained of for their rigidness 
in discipline, and re-baptizing members from other communities, 
and that they did not pay due reverence to the martyrs, nor allow 
that there was any virtue 1 in their relics. 

A strict adherence by the Church to the laws of the Savior, has 
been the cause of abuse from Arminians and the children of the 
bond-woman in all ages of the world. We have traced the Nova- 
tians up to the fourth century, but shall trace them hereafter 
through future centuries. 

We now proceed to examine the Churches in Africa, and their 
progress through this century. In 202, one Tertulian was a lawyer 
at Carthage. He became a Christian and joined the Church in that 
city. He afterwards was elected an Elder, and became a zealous 
defender of the Christian religion. In 215 it seems that Christians 
were very numerous in that city, and many congregations in other 
parts. By this time the new doctrines, originated in the Alexan- 
drian school in the previous century, had taken deep hold among 
the Churches in this region, which Tertulian thought had caused 
the Churches to grow too fast, consequently they had become filled 
with members who knew nothing about Christianity, only as they 
had been taught it by the science of education. Tertulian thought 
to remedy this evil by a strict adherence to discipline, and contended 
for receiving members by baptism in all cases, unless they could pro- 
duce satisfactory evidence that they had been baptized by Churches 
in communion with that of Carthage. Robins' Hist. 

About this time the idea was first originated, (which is but too 
common in the nineteenth century,) that to believe certain important 
points taught in the Scriptures was all that was necessary to prepare 
a person for baptism; and the belief that baptism possessed a saving 
influence, soon led to the practice of catechising children, so as to 
prepare them for baptism. This was done for the purpose of fulfill- 
ing the injunctions of John and the Savior, that faith is a pre- 
requisite to baptism. These notions having become common in 
many Churches, and especially in the East, gave rise to the question 
propounded to Tertulian by Quintilla, a rich lady who lived at 
Pepuza, a town in Phrygia, whether infants might be baptized on 
condition they ask to be baptized and produce sponsors ; which Ter- 
tulian goes on to answer very exquisitely, and shows his opposition 
to minor baptism, and the blending of regeneration with it. 

It is surprising that a man with Tertulian's talents and rigid 



DURING THE THIRD CENTURY. 13 



course of discipline in receiving members and opposing minor bap- 
tism, should ever approbate any portion of the innovations of the 
Alexandrian school upon the truth and practice of the Church. 
The growing evil in the Church at Carthage, of which Tertulian 
was one of its pastors, was more than a match for all his exertions 
to reform it. He left it and united with the Montanists; here, no 
doubt, he found a people whose views were more congenial with his 
own. He soon formed a Church of these people at Carthage, which 
continued two hundred years. 

About the year 260, sixty-six bishops came together to consider 
the subject of baptizing infants, and "agreed that the grace of God 
should be withheld from no son of man ; that a child might be 
kissed with the kiss of Christian charity as a brother so soon as 
born; that Elisha prayed to God, and stretched himself on the 
infant; that the eighth day was observed in the Jewish circumcision 
was a type going before, which type ceased when the substance 
came. If sinners can have baptism, how much sooner infants, who, 
being newly born, have no sin, save being descended from Adam. 
This therefore, dear brethren, was our opinion in this assembly, that 
it is not for us to hinder any person from baptism and the grace of 
God, who is merciful and kind and affectionate to all; which rule, 
as it holds for all, so we think it more especially to be observed in 
reference to infants and persons newly baptized." 

The opinion of this conclave of bishops could not be enforced 
upon the Churches while they remained independent of each other, 
and could only be brought into practice by influence and common 
suasion. This lack of power in the clergy would soon cause them 
to originate some method to bring the Churches under obligations 
to adhere to their edicts, which will show itself in future centuries. 
This is the first Council we have any account of assembling to 
deliberate on infant baptism. 

We now come to treat of Christianity in France during the third 
century. Orchard says: 

"The city of Lyons was again visited with the vengeance of the 
Emperor. Severus, in 202, treated the Christians of this city with 
the greatest cruelty. Such was the excess of his barbarity that the 
rivers were colored with human blood, and the public places of the 
city were filled with the dead bodies of professors. It is recorded 
of this Church that, since its formation, it has been watered with 
the blood of twenty thousand martyrs. The severities led Chris- 
tians to reside on the borders of kingdoms, and in recesses of 
mountains, and it is probable the Pyrenees and Alps afforded some 
of those persecuted people an asylum from local irritation. It is 
more than probable that Piedmont afforded shelter to some of these 
Lyonese, since it is recorded that Christians in the valleys, during 
the second century,' did profess and practice the baptizing of believ- 
ers, which accords with the views of Ireneus and others, recorded 
during the early ages." Hist, of the Crusades, p. 6. 



14 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



Novatian, whose labors were attended with so much success in 
Italy aud in the East, is said to have influenced some Churches in 
France. Faustus, bishop of Lyons, with several other French 
bishops, says Milner, wrote to Stephen, bishop of Home [A. D. 254,] 
concerning the views and practice advocated by these Novatianists, 
who again wrote to Cyprian of Carthage. This bishop replied to 
Stephen, supporting strongly the cause of the Church against 
schismatics. Marcian, pastor of Arelate, united himself to the 
Novatianists. Though the gospel had an early footing in Gaul, 
it appears to have partaken of the early corruptions which were 
evidently checked by Novatian and his adherents, which becomes 
clear from the anger and reproach apparent on the part of Cyprian 
and his followers. 

It appears from all the early writers, that the reformers and dis- 
senters from the corruptions that had been introduced into the 
Church during the third century, adopted the practice everywhere 
of receiving members from the old corrupt party, and also those 
that apostatized into idolatry during the times of persecution, by 
re-baptizing them, which gave great oifense to the old party, and 
caused many hard things to be said of these people, who had 
already been given the names of Puritans and Anabaptists, heretics 
and not Christians. The Catholic party in the German and Dutch 
Provinces were very bitter against them. Thus we see the difficul- 
ties that the Baptists had to pass through during the second and 
third centuries to maintain the truth of the Gospel. 

200. We here quote from Mr. Orchard some very interesting 
statistics in relation to Christianity in the East. He says — " The 
innumerable Christians of the East, who were not in communion 
with either the Greek or the Roman Churches, may be divided into 
two classes. The first consists of such as in ages past dissented 
from the Greek Church, and formed similar hierarchies, which yet 
subsist, independent of one another, as well as of the Grecian and 
Roman communities. The second consists of those who never were 
of any hierarchy, and who have always retained their original free- 
dom. The number of such Churches is very great, for they lived 
dispersed all over Syria, Arabia, Egypt, Persia, Nubia, Ethiopia, 
India, Tartary, and other Eastern countries." It is remarkable, 
says Robinson, that although they differ, as Europeans do on specu- 
lative points of divinity, yet they all administered baptism by 
immersion, and there is no instance to the contrary. 

The Messalians or Euchites, (the one a Hebrew term, the other 
Greek, and signifying a praying people,) had in Greece a very early 
existence. These people, like all other non-conformists, are re- 
proached and branded with heresy by the old orthodox writers; but 
whatever errors may have been mixed up with their creed, it would 
appear devotion and piety formed the ground of the stigma, so that 
a puritanical character is fully implied. These Messalians were 
evidently the parent stock of non-conformists in Greece. "They 



DURING THE FOURTH CENTURY. 15 



were often named from the country they inhabited, as Arminians, 
Phrygians, Bulgarians, Philippopolitanes, or, as it was corruptly 
sounded in the West, Popolicans, Poblicans, and many more names 
were found in this cla?s. The term Euchites, among Greeks, was a 
general name for dissenters, as the Waldenses was in the Latin 
Church, and Non-conformists was in England. This large body of 
dissenters were resident in the empire from the first establishment 
of Christianity, until its destruction in the thirteenth century." 

"Toward the close of the second century, one Montanus, who 
lived in a Phrygian village called Pepuza, undertook a mission to 
restore Christianity to its native simplicity. One class of professors 
being at the period carried away with the Egyptian symbols, while 
others made up a system of religion from philosophic notions, orien- 
tal customs, and a portion of the gospel, apparently prompted this 
humble individual to attempt a reformation, or rather a restoration 
of the primitive order of things. Being destitute of classical lore 
himself, he required it not in others who were willing to further his 
designs. He was decidedly hostile to those ministers, who, with the 
new system, emanated from Alexandria. He was very successful in 
his labor of love, since his views and doctrines spread abroad, and 
were received through Asia, Africa, and in part of Europe. His 
doctrine and discipline, though severe, gained him the esteem of 
many who were not of the lowest order." 

The Manicheans took their rise about 230, from one Manes, a 
lawyer who embraced Christianity, and taught others the views he 
adopted. It is certain he had many followers in this and the fol- 
lowing centuries. An endless variety of tales are told of this man 
and his followers, from which reproach have rested upon them down 
to the present day. Those accusations were all from their inveterate 
enemies, and should be considered with much allowance. 



FOURTH CENTURY. 

The scenes already narrated, that the Baptists had to encounter 
and pass through in the last century, have prepared the mind of the 
reader to anticipate the sufferings that await them. The close of 
the third century presents to our view the Pagan religion wielding 
the power of the Roman Empire, engaged to exterminate the Chris- 
tian religion ; and the corrupt party professing Christianity making 
every effort, using hard names, misrepresentation and slander, to put 
down those who were endeavoring to keep the Church and Gospel 
pure. We see the prediction of the Apostle fully verified when, 
speaking to the Elders of the Church at Ephesus, he says : " For I 
know this, that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in 



16 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



among you, not sparing the flock; also of your ownselves shall men 
arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them." 
Acts, xx : 29, 30. Again he says: "This know also, that in the last 
days perilous times shall come; for men shall be lovers of their own- 
selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, 
unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false 
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, 
heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; 
having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." 2 
Tim. iii: 1, 5. Again he says that the man of sin may be revealed 
in his time, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only 
he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way," etc. 
2Thess. ii: 7. 

We see the dragon that produced the wonders in heaven, that was 
standing before the woman (the Church) ready to devour the man- 
child as soon as it was born, casting a flood of persecution after her, 
while the mystery of iniquity doth already work in the Church, 
preparing the way for the revealing of the man of sin; and the 
Pagan dragon (heathen Rome) still holding on, until the time for 
the beast to arise, which is near at hand. 

At the commencement of the fourth century of the Christian era, 
the Roman Empire was under dominion of four monarchs, of whom 
two, to wit, Dioclesian and Maximin Herculeses, were of superior 
rank, and each distinguished by the title of Augustus; while the 
other two, Constantius Chlorus and Maximinus Galerius, sustained a 
subordinate dignity, and were honored with the humble dignity of 
Ccmrs. Dioclesian was raised to the throne in the year 284, conse- 
quently had swayed the imperial scepter sixteen years, but though 
much addicted to superstition, his feelings were favorable to Chris- 
tians, and during this part of his reign they enjoyed peace. In 303, 
the Pagan priests, with the assistance of Maximinus, obtained an 
edict from Dioclesian to force all Christians, without distinction of 
rank or sex, to sacrifice to the gods and pull down the sanctuaries 
of Christians, to burn their books and writings, and to deprive 
them of their civil rights and privileges. Under this edict the 
magistrates employed all kinds of tortures and punishments that 
human depravity could invent to force Christians to apostatize, and 
the ministers of the gospel became the object of the emperor's 
aversion. 

A learned French writer, Monsieur Godeau, computes that in this 
tenth persecution, as it is commonly termed, there were not less than 
seventeen thousand Christians put to death in the space of one 
month ; and that during the continuance of it, in the Province of 
Egypt alone, no less than one hundred and fifty thousand persons 
died by violence of their persecutors, and five times that number 
through the fatigues of banishment, or in the public mines to which 
they had been condemned. Jones' Church Hist., p. 161. 

Constantius Chlorus reigned over the west, and was favorably 



DURING THE FOURTH CENTURY. 17 



disposed to Christians. In 306, being in declining health, and 
finding his reign drawing to a close, and his end aproaching, he 
nominated his son, Constantine, his successor ; and immediately 
after the death of Constantius, the army pronounced Constantine 
Emperor of the West, in room of his father. At this time, the 
edicts of Dioclesian against the Christians, were still in force in the 
East; and just before the death of Constantius Galerius, who had 
been the instigator of all this trouble, obliged Dioclesian and Maxi- 
mian to resign the imperial dignity, and got himself declared Em- 
peror of the East. The edicts remained in force until 311, when 
Galerius was reduced to the point of death, by a dreadful and linger- 
ing disease. Gibbon says : " The experience of six years of perse- 
cution, and the salutary reflections which a painful and lingering 
disease suggested to the mind of Galerius, at length convinced him 
that the most violent efforts of despotism are insufficient to extir- 
pate a whole people, or to subdue their religious prejudices ; and, 
being desirous of repairing the mischief he had done, he published, 
in his own name, and in those of Sicinius and Constantine, a general 
edict, which, after a pompous recital of and a lengthy preamble set- 
ting forth the objects he wished to accomplish by his course, and his 
failure to do so, he revoked all his former edicts, and gave general 
toleration, as follows : " We permit them, therefore, freely to pro- 
fess their private opinions, and to assemble in their conventicles 
without molestation, provided, always, that they preserve a due 
respect to the established laws and government. By another 
rescript, we shall signify our intentions to the Judges and Magis- 
trates ; and we hope that our indulgence will engage the Christians 
to offer up their prayers to the Deity whom they adore, for our safety 
and prosperity, for their own and for that of the Republic." This 
important edict was issued and set up at Nico media, on the 13th of 
April, 311, but the wretched Galerius did not long survive its 
publication. 

After his death Maximin succeeded him in the government of 
the provinces of Asia. Shortly after, a war broke out between him- 
self and Lucinius, and his defeat and death taking place shortly 
after, delivered the Christians from another contemplated per- 
secution. 

The government of the Roman world, which a few years before, 
had been administered by no less than six emperors at one time, 
now became divided between Constantine and Lucinius, who imme- 
diately granted permission to the Christians to live according. to 
their own laws and institutions ; and an edict to that effect was 
published at Milan, in the year 313. By this edict, every subject of 
the Empire was allowed to profess either Christianity or Pa'ganism, 
unmolested. The rival princes, however, were not long in seeking 
or finding occasion to turn their arms against each other, in the issue 
of which Lucinius fell, and left his competitor in the undisturbed 
possession of the Empire. Jones' His., p. 163. 
2 



18 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



This prince took control of the Roman Empire under favorable 
circumstances, and might have been a benefactor to the world had 
his policy been wise. His subjects were well enough balanced on 
the subject of religion, there being but two parties, to wit — the 
Pagans and Christians — and full toleration to each party to worship 
in its own way, offered no restraint nor violence to either ; and had 
the Emperor granted no favors to one that he would not to the oth- 
ers, his reign would have been a pattern to future rulers, worthy of 
imitation. 

This amicable state of things remained but a short time. The 
Emperor becoming convinced of the folly and impiety of the Pagan 
superstition, he exhorted all his subjects to embrace the Gospel, and, 
at length, he employed all his authority to abolish the ancient hea- 
then worship. 

We now see Constantine taking a firm stand in favor of Christian- 
ity. He professed to believe the Gospel, and many of his officers 
likewise. He conferred freedom on those slaves that would receive 
baptism. He offered a reward to others, on their embracing 
Christianity, so that twelve thousand men, besides women and 
minors, were baptised in one year. 

In 319, he relieved the clergy of taxes, and in 320 issued an 
edict against the Donatists, and some suffered death. In 326, he 
showed some moderation towards the Novatianists, because of the 
soundness of that faith, he had the year before established in the 
council of Nice. He now incorporated the Church with the State, 
and transferred the seat of government from Rome to Byzantium, 
and called it Constantinople, from his own name. • He assumed the 
title of Bishop, and claimed the power of regulating the external 
affairs of the Church. And he and his successors convened councils, 
in which they presided, and determined all matters of discipline. 
This constitution of things was an entire departure from the order 
of worship established under Divine direction, by the Apostles of 
Christ, in the primitive churches. In fact, there were scarcely any 
two things more dissimilar than was the simplicity of the Gospel 
from the hierarchy established under Constantine the Great. 

" Let none," says Dr. Mosheim, alluding to the first and second 
centuries, " confound the bishops of this primitive and golden period 
of the Church, with those of whom we read in the following ages; 
for they were both called by the same name, yet they differed 
extremely in many respects. A bishop, during the first and second 
centuries, was a person who had the care of one Christian assembly, 
which at that time was, generally speaking, small enough to be con- 
tained in a private house. In this assembly, he acted not so much 
with the authority of a master, as with the zeal and diligence of a 
faithful servant. The churches, also, in those early times, were 
entirely independent; none of them subject to any foreign jurisdic- 
tion, but each one governed by its own rules and its own laws." 
The clergy, after receiving such great favors and so much atten- 



DURING THE FOURTH CENTURY. 19 



tion from the Emperor, soon became haughty, proud, and vicious, 
and they contended with each other in the most scandalous manner ; 
they trampled on the rights of the people, as, by endowment, they 
were raised above them, they imitated the luxury of princes, and 
consequently ignorance and superstition soon prevailed among the 
people. Reverence now began to be paid to the memory of 
departed saints. The people being left by their state-paid clergy, 
soon had their minds diverted from the simplicity of the Gospel. 
Constantine, after paving the way for the revealing of the man of 
sin, was removed by death, May 22d, 337, aged 66. 

We have given in detail the important acts of this Emperor's 
reign, the results of which will be given in their proper place in this 
work, so that if the reader should ever see similar causes make their 
appearance, he may know what their effects will be. 

We shall now notice the progress of the Church in Italy during 
the fourth century. Socrates states, that when the Church was 
taken under the fostering care of Constantine, and on his party using 
severe measures against dissenters, the dominant party called them- 
selves the Catholic Church, but the oppressed and suffering party 
was known by the name, the Church of Martyrs. 

The Novatianists, while oppressed by the Catholic party, termed 
Paterines, which means sufferers, or what is nearly synonymous 
with our modern acceptation of the word martyrs, and which indi- 
cate an afflicted and poor people, trusting in the name of the Lord, 
and which name was, in a great measure, restricted to the dissenters 
in Italy, where it was as common as the Albigenses in the south 
of France, or Waldenses in Piedmont. The orthodoxy of the No- 
vatian party, with the influence of some of their ministers, is sup- 
posed to have procured some mitigation of the edicts that Constant- 
ine had put forth against them. His severe measures prompted 
many to leave the scene of suffering and retire into more sequestered 
spots. Claudius Scypel, the Popish Archbishop, traces the rise of 
the Waldensian heresy to a pastor named Leo, leaving Rome at this 
period for the valleys. 

About 352, the succeeding Emperor, Constantius, embraced the 
Arian faith, and severely oppressed the orthodox. In the territory 
Mantinium, a large district of Paphligonia, the Novatianists were 
extremely numerous there, and a body of four thousand troops were 
sent to exterminate them, with other Trinitarians. The Novatian 
peasants, however, arming themselves with scythes and axes, fought 
the invaders of their homes in so desperate a manner, that they even 
destroyed the disciplined soldiery. Mosh. Hist., Cent. 4, 14. 

They lost several of their places of worship, but Julian ascend- 
ing the throne, required the Arians to rebuild and restore them. 
In 375, the Emperor Valens embraced the Arian creed. He closed 
the Novatian churches, banished their ministers, and probably would 
carried his measures to extreme severity, had not his prejudices and 
zeal been moderated by a pious man named Marcion. During this 



20 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



severe trial, the benevolent feelings of the Novatianists became so 
apparent as to extort admiration from their enemies. About this 
period (380,) Pacianns, Bishop of Barcelona, wrote some treatises 
against these people. He observes to Sempronianus, one of the 
Novatian ministers, " You have forsaken the traditions of the 
Church, under pretence of reformation ; likewise, you say that the 
Church is a body of men, regenerated by water and the Holy Spirit, 
who have not denied the name of Christ, which is the temple and 
house of God, the pillar aud ground of truth ; wc say the same 
also." In 383, Theodosius assembled a synod, with the view to 
establish unity among churches. On the Novatianists stating their 
views of discipline, the Emperor, says Socrates, " wondering at their 
consent touching the faith," passed a law, securing to them liberty, 
civil and religious, all their property, with all churches of the same 
faith and practice. While these pure churches were in peace and 
concord, it is stated that discord prevailed in the national churches. 

At the conclusion of this fourth century, the Novatianists had 
three, if not four churches, in Constantinople. They had, also, 
churches at Nice, Nicomedia, and Coteveus, in Phrygia, all of them 
large and extensive bodies, besides which, they were very numerous 
in the Western Empire. Orchard's Hist., Dupin and Lebe. 

"We leave the Novatianists for the present, at the end of the fourth 
century, and resume the history of the Church in Africa. On peace 
being realized in 311, the members, presbyters, and others in the 
Carthagenian church, made choice of a pastor to preside over their 
interests. This business was managed without calling together the 
various members of the community, and a serious rupture ensued. 
One objection raised against Cecilian, the new Bishop, was, that 
during the persecution, he had delivered the holy Scriptures to the 
officers of Dioclesian. One Donatus took a prominent stand in 
opposition to the choice of the church, and many persons supported 
his views. "By his superior abilities and virtues," says Gibbon, 
"he was the firmest supporter of his party." This controversy, in a 
short time, spread far and wide, not only through Numidia, says 
Mosheim, but even through all the provinces of Africa, which 
entered so zealously into this ecclesiastical war, that in most cities 
there were two bishops, one at the head of the Catholic Party, and 
the other presiding over the Donatists. The churches of the latter 
amounted to four hundred. 

These seceders or dissenters, in Africa, were called Donatists, 
from the name of their reformer, though by some they are called 
Montenses. The Donatists did not differ from the Catholics in doc- 
trine, but in morals, and they seceded on account of discipline, from 
the community. The Donatists maintained that the church ought to 
be made up of just and holy men, or at least, of those who are such 
in appearance ; and that, although wicked men might lurk in the 
church, it would not harbor those who are known to be such. They 
were zealous in requiring penitence of all those who united with 



DURING THE FOURTH CENTURY. 21 



them, and the narrow and solitary way, observes Gibbon, which 
their first leaders marked out, continued to deviate from the great 
society of mankind. They thought the Church ought to be kept 
separate from the world ; a religious society voluntarily congregated 
together for pious purposes. With this view they admitted none to 
fellowship without a personal profession of faith and holiness, and 
them they baptized. They baptized converts from Paganism, and 
they re-baptized all those persons who came over to their fellowship 
from other communities ; they were very careful to remove from 
their places of worship everything that bore any resemblance to 
worldly communities. While the Catholics under Constantine were 
ornamenting their sanctuaries so as to resemble heathen temples, the 
Donatists' zeal for the truth, and the plain, simple order of the 
primitive churches prompted them to clear the walls and floors of 
their places of worship of all vestiges of the ancient superstition. 
The regard which they paid to purity of communion, occasioned 
their being stigmatized with the term Puritans. 

The Donatists and Novatianists very nearly resembled each other 
in doctrines and discipline. Indeed, they are charged by Crispin, a 
French historian, with holding together in the following things : 
First, For purity of church members, by asserting that none ought 
to be admitted into the church but such as are visibly true 
believers and real saints. Secondly, For purity of church discipline. 
Thirdly, For the independency of each church. Fourthly, They 
baptized again those whose first baptism they had reason to doubt. 
They were consequently called Re-baptizers and Anabaptists. 
Oseander says, our modern Anabaptists were the same with the 
Donatists of old. Fuller, the English historian, asserts that the 
Baptists in England, in his days, were the Donatists new dipped; 
and Robinson declares they were Trinitarian Anabaptists. 

The disputes between the Donatists and Catholics were at their 
height when Constantine became fully invested with imperial 
power. 

A. D. 314. The Catholic party solicited the services of the Em- 
peror, who in answer, appointed commissioners to hear both sides, 
but this measure not giving satisfaction, he even condescended to 
hear the parties himself, but his best exertions would not effect a 
reconciliation. The interested part that Constantine took in the 
dispute, led the Donatists to inquire, What has the Emperor to do 
with the Church f What have Christians to do with kings f or what 
have bishops to do at court ? Constantine finding his authority 
questioned, and even set at nought by these Baptists, listened to the 
advice of his bishops at court, and deprived the Donatists of their 
churches. This persecution was the first which realized the support 
of a Christian Emperor, and Constantine went so far as to put some 
of the Donatists to death. The Circumcellions, men of no religion, 
saw these Puritans oppressed, and from sympathy and a love of 
freedom, actually took up arms in their defence. Everything now 



22 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



combined to disturb the peace of the province, to prevent which, 
the Emperor found it necessary to abrogate those laws he had pre- 
viously made against the Donatists. His superstitious regard to the 
rights of the Church and the Catholic clergy increased as he declined 
in life, and consequently, through their influence, he issued, in 330, 
his edicts against all dissidents and seceders from the orthodox 
cause. These views and measures he supported till 337, when death 
terminated his career. The ensuing emperors were influenced gene- 
rally by the stipendiary bishops, consequently chequered circum- 
stances attended dissenters. In 362, Julian permitted the exiled 
Donatists to return and enjoy the sweets of liberty, which revived 
the denomination, and by their zeal and unceasing efforts, brought 
over in a short time the greatest part of the African provinces to 
espouse their interests. From various sources of information, it is 
most evident that the Donatists were a most powerful and numer- 
ous body of dissenters; almost as numerous as the Catholics, which, 
considering the strictness of their discipline and their close adher- 
ence to the laws of Zion, is a subject of pleasing reflection. Their 
influence must have been considerable, since, as Mr. Jones remarks, 
" There was scarcely a city or town in Africa in which there was 
not a Donatists' church.'' Jones' Ec. Hist., Mosheim Pr. 

These people maintained their popularity through the century, 
and continued formidable to their enemies, through the ensuing age. 
Dr. Mosheim says, in 399, the Donatists were numerous in this 
province, and were served by no less than four hundred bishops. 

We might notice some reformers in Arminia, in this century, that 
could no longer bear with the corruptions of the Catholic church ; 
but the accounts are rather meager, and only go to show the opposi- 
tion which conscientious Christians in all parts were making to the 
growing evils in the Catholic party. 

The historians of the early ages abound with accounts of the 
apostacy of the Catholic church during the fourth century, the wor- 
shiping of images, adoring the relics of saints, and pilgrimages to 
the Holy Land, became the settled practice of the established church. 
The positions of the two parties, as detailed in this work, shows the 
complete separation of the true Baptist church from the old interest, 
or church of Antichrist, and the practice of each fully explained. 

We now see the Baptist Church of Christ standing firm on the 
foundation where she was first built, with her ordinances and dis- 
cipline unimpaired. We shall now leave the fourth century and 
take our journey through the fifth, and onward until we see the 
predictions of the Prophet Daniel, and that of the Savior, fully 
verified. Dan. ii: 44; Matt, xvi : 18. 

We continue the narrative of the Xovatianists in Italy during the 
fifth century. Orchard, p. 59, says — There were, in 410, several 
Churches of this people in Alexandria in the beginning of the fifth 
century. In 412, Cyril was ordained bishop of the Catholic Church 
in this city. One of his first acts was to shut up the Churches of 



DURING THE FIFTH CENTURY. 23 



the Novatianists. Persecutions in the first ages were confined to 
the edicts of emperors, but in the conduct of Cyril and Innocent, 
we see the bishops assuming that authority, and the emperors sub- 
mitting to it — a bold strike toward assuming the power of State as 
well as Church. Their persecutions were rigorous and severe; one 
minister Cyril deprived of everything they possessed. They experi- 
enced very similar treatment at Rome by Innocent, who was one of 
the first bishops to persecute the dissenters and rob them of their 
Churches. The bishops became enraged against the Novatianists 
for baptizing all persons who came over to their communion from 
the Catholic party. They considered it to be invalidating their order 
and authority as a Church to administer the ordinances legally. 



FIFTH CENTURY. 

In the Fourth Lateran Council an order was made to banish them 
as heretics; and these orders were supported by an edict, in 413, 
issued by the Emperors Theodosius and Honorius, declaring that all 
persons re-baptized and the re-baptizers should be both punished 
with death. In the execution of this edict, Albanus, a zealous min- 
ister, with others of the Novatianists, was punished with death for 
re-baptizing. Bap. Mag., vol. 1, p. 256. The edict was probably 
obtained by the influence of Augustine, bishop of Hippo, in Africa, 
who could endure no rival, nor would he bear with any who ques- 
tioned the virtue of his rite, or the sanctity of his brethren, or the 
soundness of the Catholic creed; and those points being disputed by 
the Novatianists and Donatists, two powerful and extensive bodies 
of dissidents in Italy and Africa, they were consequently made to 
feel the weight of his influence. These combined modes of oppres- 
sion led the faithful followers of Christ to abandon the cities, and 
seek retreats and more private settlements in the country ; in doing 
of w T hich they made their way into the valleys of Piedmont, a des- 
cription of which we have already given in the history of the 
second century, which is no doubt the retreat and wilderness spoken 
of in Rev. xii: 6. About this time they began to be called Wal- 
denses. We have alluded already to a people in these valleys who 
protested against the corruptions of the Church of Rome, which 
began to be practiced in the second century, and who preserved and 
practiced all the ordinances and discipline in accordance with the 
apostolic injunctions. We have now traced the Novatianists, a 
people of the same faith and order, practice and discipline, into the 
same country. May not all these properly be termed Baptists — a 
name which combines together all the branches of the Church of 
Christ, which in different ages were called by the names of their 



24 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



elders or preachers, or by some opprobrious name given to them by 
their enemies? It is not the name which distinguishes one body of 
men from another, but their organization and practice, which, in the 
main, are the same with the early dissenters and the Old School 
Baptists of the nineteenth century. 

415. The Novatianists had hitherto flourished mightily in Rome, 
having a great many places of worship and large congregations; 
but the rising power of the Catholic interest, its union with the 
sword, the ambitious character of its officers, with the tyrannical 
spirit of its bishops, prompted them to crush every opposing inter- 
est. They consequently robbed the Novatianists of all their 
Churches, and drove them into obscurity. About this time some 
epistles appeared against them, written by different individimls, 
which had a baneful influence at this period on the interests of this 
people. One of the individuals whose hostility was felt by the No- 
vatianists, was Celestines, one of Innocent's successors. [A. D. 432.] 
He took possession of all their Churches in the city of Rome, and 
compelled them to worship in private houses in the most obscure 
places. A council was called at Aries and at Lyons, in 455, in 
which the views of the •Novatianists on predestination were contro- 
verted, and by which name they were stigmatized. These people 
now retired from public notice; yet it is pretty manifest that while 
some of them sought asylums in other kingdoms, many of these 
despised people continued in Italy, and a succession of them will be 
found under another name. 

In 476, on the 23d day of August, a period was put to all perse- 
cution in Italy, by the subjection of that kingdom to the Goths, 
whose laws breathed the purest spirit of equal and universal liberty. 
Historians say but little of the state of religion out of the Catholic 
Church, for the reason, no doubt, that the dissenters were not allowed 
to worship publicly, and their numbers so reduced that they created 
no alarm in the dominant party. This civil and religious liberty 
continued for about three centuries, during which time the dissidents 
no doubt greatly increased. The accounts given of the Novatianists 
by Eusebius and Socrates in their Histories are decided proofs of 
their extensive influence. Mosh. Hist.; Rob. Res. 

Orchard Hist., p. 165, says: "Persons holding sentiments in 
accordance with the true Waldenses, were very numerous in Spain; 
they were thousands and tens of thousands." 

We now resume the history of the Donatists where we left it at 
the end of the fourth century. We left them under severe edicts 
from the Emperor, which had not been strictly executed; so that 
in 404, the bishops sent a deputation to the Emperor Honorius, 
requesting him, to enforce those edicts which had been made in pre- 
vious reigns against the Donatists. The Emperor first imposed a 
fine on all those who refused to return into the bosom of the 
Church, banishing the pastors of the refractory. The year follow- 
ing, severe measures were adopted, but the magistrates were remiss 



DURING THE FIFTH CENTURY. 25 



in their execution. This occasioned a council at Carthage, which 
sent a deputation to the Emperor, soliciting the appointment of 
special officers to execute his edicts with vigor. Though weakened 
by these severe measures, the Puritans were yet quite strong. In 
408, after Stilicho, the general, had been put to death, they increased 
in strength, and in the ensuing year they had accessions to their 
interests, when, from their rising importance, the Emperor granted 
a law in favor of religious liberty, but the united exertions of the 
clergy occasioned its abrogation the following year. Tired with the 
appeals of these contending parties, the Emperor sent a tribune with 
full power to conclude the unhappy contest. Consequently a public 
meeting was called, and, as Lardner says, "a famous conference was 
held at Carthage in 411." In this celebrated synod, the number of 
ministers from the different Churches in both denominations was 
found to be nearly equal, though some ministers of the dissenting 
party were unavoidably absent. The Catholics numbered two hun- 
dred and eighty-six, and the Donatists two hundred and seventy- 
nine. The defeat of the latter is not attributed to the Catholics' 
majority, but principally to Augustine's influence at court and his 
writings. The defeated Donatists appealed to the Emperor, but 
without attaining any beneficial results. In 412, Cyril was ordained 
bishop of Alexandria. One of his first acts was to shut up the 
Novatianists' churches, and strip them of every thing of value. 
Augustine, supported by a kindred spirit in Cyril, exercised all his 
influence, and consequently the edicts procured against the Donatists 
were now of a more sanguinary character. The Catholics found by 
experience that the means hitherto used had been ineffectual against 
the Donatists. They now prevailed on Honorius and Theodosius, 
Emperors of the East and West, to issue an edict decreeing that the 
persons re-baptizing and the persons re-baptized should be punished 
with death. In consequence of this cruel measure martyrdoms 
ensued. Gibbon remarks on these edicts, that "three hundred 
bishops and many thousands of the inferior clergy were torn from 
their churches, stript of their possessions, banished to the Islands, 
proscribed by law if they presumed to conceal themselves in the 
provinces of Africa. Their numerous congregations, both in cities 
and the country, were deprived of the rights of citizens and the 
exercise of religious worship. It seems that the most severe fines 
were imposed on all those who were known to attend the meetings 
or places of worship of any of the dissenters; and in all cases where 
the fines did not subdue the practice, the further mode of punish- 
ment was referred to the discretion of the imperial court. By these 
severities, which obtained the warmest support of Augustine, great 
numbers returned to the Catholic Church; but the faithful and con- 
scientious, who still persevered in their opposition, were provoked 
to madness and despair. Augustine owned that the city of Hippo 
had been full of conventicles until he procured penal laws for their 
suppression. When the Donatists reproached him with making 



26 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



martyrs of their bishops and elders, and told him that God would 
require an account of their blood at the day of judgment; he re- 
plied, 'I know nothing about your martyrs! martyrs!! martyrs!!! 
To the devil. There are no martyrs out of the Church ; besides it 
was their obstinacy; they killed themselves.'" Rob. Hist. Bap. 

The Donatists re-baptized all persons coming from other commu- 
nities. This conduct Augustine disapproved and observed — " You, 
Donatists, say they are baptized in an impure Church, by heretics; 
but the validity of the baptism depends upon God's authority, not 
on the goodness or sanctity of the person who officiates." 

Mr. Long says — " Though there were great feuds between the 
Donatists and others, yet they were professed Anabaptists." " They 
did not only re-baptize the adults that came over to them, but 
refused to baptize children, which was contrary to the practice of 
the Catholic Church." Though Austin confines the church to the 
Catholic body, yet it must not be forgotten that there were churches 
more or less extensive throughout Africa, besides the Donatists, and 
known as Manicheans, Montanists, Novatianists, and others, whose 
morals were far more excellent than even St. Augustine ; but all 
these were heretics in his view and objects of his most virulen 
animosity. 

We find but little allusion by early historians to the Donatists, 
after 415 to the end of the century ; they no doubt sought obscurity, 
that they might escape the rigors of Augustine's edicts. 

It seems the clergy of the Catholic church during this century, 
had become very profligate, and admonitions and rules were made 
in their councils to check their licentiousness. They were 
wallowing in luxury and affluence, and the rules, regulations, and 
order of the Church, as required in God's word, they enforced by 
power and not by example. 

We have critically examined all the accounts of historians upon 
the subject of baptism, and find that during the first three centuries 
there was no change, either in mode or subject. 

In 370, the Emperor Valens sent for Basil to baptize his dying 
son, Galeles ; the ground of the request was the illness of the youth. 
Basil refused to confer the ordinance without a profession of faith; 
and from Fox's account, he did not baptize the child, but that the 
rite was administered by an Arian Bishop. 

While there had been no change in the mode, and the subjects 
continue to be adult persons, yet it is very obvious that a great por- 
tion of the professors of Christianity attached more importance to 
baptism than ever was designed by its founder. There was an evi- 
dent leaning to the idea that baptism possessed a saving virtue, 
which gradually led to the administration of the ordinance to per- 
sons that never had been changed by grace. This first led to the 
baptising of minors that had been catechised and were able to 
answer certain questions that were considered requisite. This, no 
doubt, led Quintilla to ask the question of Tertulian, whether 



DURING THE SIXTH CENTURY. 27 



infants might be baptized, on condition they ashed to be baptized, and 
produced sponsors? Tertulian's answer was lengthy and scriptural, 
and indicated great Gospel knowledge. 

The inquiry now began to arise, if salvation is not attainable 
without baptism, how are our children that die without being bap- 
tized to be saved ? The bishops and propagators of the doctrine of 
the saving influence of baptism must now solve the inquiry, and 
point out the way for children to receive the benefits of baptism 
before they were old enough to learn and answer those necessary 
questions. Augustine undertook the task ; he did not preach up 
infantile purity as the Arminian world does in the nineteenth cen- 
tury ; but his arguments were, that original sin was taken away in 
baptism, which soon drove him into Pedo-baptism. And for the 
purpose of giving more strength to his doctrine, he called together 
at Mela, in Numidia, 92 ministers, and Augustine himself presided. 
This assembly was afterwards called the council of Mela. ,They 
there solemnly declared that " whoever denies that little children 
by baptism are freed from perdition, and eternally saved, that they 
be accursed." This was in the year 416. At Girona, in Spain, 
says Dr. Robinson, seven men of different provinces made the first 
European rule for infant baptism. And our historians say, that 
Charles the Great, in 789, issued the first law in Europe for bap- 
tizing infants. The practice of baptizing infants had obtained quite 
generally in the Catholic church after the fifth century, but at first 
by immersion, and afterwards to sickly children by pouring, and 
sprinkling finally obtained. Stephen, the Pontiff, in 754, gives his 
opinion, " that if children were sickly, pouring, in such cases of 
necessity, would be valid baptism." 

This sketch on the subject of infant baptism, will give the reader 
a knowledge of the time when, and the manner in which it took its 
rise. It will be seen that the Catholic church was the mother of the 
institution, and we see the practice followed by none but her 
offspring. 



SIXTH CENTURY. 



Before we proceed with the history of the Church in the sixth 
century, we will give a short description of a portion of the country, 
where some of the outcasts of the spiritual Israel took shelter from 
the persecutions of Antichrist, which will more fully give the reader 
a knowledge of the perils the Baptists have undergone for the sake 
of Christ. 

The South of France is separated from the North of Spain by 
the Pyrenean mountains, which extend from the Mediterranean sea 



28 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



to the Atlantic, the distance of which is above two hundred miles, 
and in breadth, in several places, more than one hundred. The 
surface is, as may be supposed, much diversified with mountains, 
hills, and valleys — some portions heavily timbered, and some bare 
of verdure. The hills abounding with grass and vegetation of 
other kinds, suited to the raising of stock, sheep and goats, in par- 
ticular ; while the rich and fertile valleys are very productive, and 
well adapted to agriculture To these mountains, in all periods, the 
lovers of freedom fled. Here the Celts found shelter. Here the 
Goths realized a refuge when the Saracens overran Spain. 

On the South of these mountains was Spain, and particularly the 
province of Catalonia, which was inhabited by those persons who 
originated the Waldenses. Persons holding sentiments in accord- 
ance with the true Waldenses were very numerous in Spain. On 
the North of these mountains was France, particularly Gascony and 
Languedoc, which two provinces became inhabited by persons of a 
corresponding character with those of Spain. " At an early period," 
says Dr. Alliz, " the churches of the North of Spain were always 
united with those of the South of France. The religious views of 
these people are now known by the term Albigenses, from their 
residing at or near Albi, a city about forty-two miles northeast of 
Toulouse. These were considered by the learned, the proud, rich 
and haughty, a rough, uncultivated and impolite people. 

These people we consider to be the same, both in doctrine and 
practice, that we have been tracing under the name of Novatianists 
from the third century, and Donatists from the fourth century; now, 
in the sixth century, in their exiled conditon, called Albigenses, 
because of their sojourn near the city of Albi. 

In the language of councils at this period, Christians are denomi- 
nated, either from their opinions, heretics, or with a view to their 
discipline, schismatics; but there was one article of discipline in 
which they all agreed, and from which they were frequently named, 
that was Baptism. They held the Catholic community not to be a 
Church of Christ ; they consequently re-baptized all that came from 
that community, before they admitted them to their fellowship. For 
this conduct they were called Anabaptists. These people, in France 
and Spain, called themselves Christians, and censured the fraud of 
those who imposed on the world by being called Catholics. They 
maintained from the New Testament, that a church Consisted only of 
virtuous persons, who had been born of the Holy Ghost. They 
took the New Testament for the rule of their faith and practice. 

We have here stated the views and practices of the early Bap- 
tists; and no doubt the inhabitants at the foot of the Pyrenees, 
whether living on the Spanish side or in the French provinces, were 
one and the same class of people, who could shift to either kingdom, 
as circumstances of oppression or liberty occurred in the respective 
kingdom-. We still find in the latter part of the sixth century, 
historians alluding to the Novatianists as being numerous in the 



DURING THE SIXTH CENTURY. 29 



Roman Empire. Dr. Lardner remarks : " The vast extent of this 
sect is manifest from the names of the authors who have mentioned 
or written against them, and from the several parts of the Roman 
Empire in which they were found. It is evident, too, that these 
churches had among them some individuals of note and eminence." 
" These sealed witnesses," says Orchard, " were the first Protestant 
dissenters from assuming hierarchies; and it is most gratifying to 
be able to prove ourselves the successors of a class of men who first 
set the example of contending for the purity and simplicity of Chris- 
tian worship, and a firm adherence to the laws of the King of 
Zion." 

For one hundred years, previous to the year 534, Africa was 
governed by people called Barbarians ; yet their conduct towards the 
followers of the Lamb and the Christian interest was more mild 
than the Catholics had ever been. During this period the Vandals 
allowed the Donatists to enjoy the sweets of religious liberty ; but 
when the Empire of the Vandals was overthrown, in 534, the privi- 
leges of religious freedom ceased to the Donatists, with the govern- 
ment of these barbarians. The hostility of the rising Pope Gregory 
operated much to their prejudice. This Pope wrote to two African 
bishops, requiring them to exert themselves in every possible way 
to suppress the Donatists. Finding themselves marked out for 
vengeance, and realizing such opposition and persecution in every 
form, they shortly disappeared. 

It is presumed these people, " of whom the world was not 
worthy," emigrated to Spain and Italy, or mingled with the Pagans 
in the interior, and worshiped the Redeemer as opportunity offered. 
From their conduct in assembling in caves and obscure places in 
the mountains to worship, they obtained the name of Montenses — 
that is, mountaineers. In the seventh century, the Donatists dwin- 
dled away almost into obscurity ; and in the middle of the eighth 
century the Gospel light was quite extinguished in Africa; and, as 
Gibbon observes, " it never after enlightened any territory therein, 
nor can it be considered as having any extensive existence in the 
present day." Rob. Hist., chap. 51. 

We here take leave of those tried and faithful servants of God 
in Africa, and will close this narrative in relation to Africa by 
giving the very appropriate and concluding remarks of Mr. Orchard 
upon the same subject. He says : 

" To review the history of such a people, so correct in morals, 
simple in spiritual worship, scriptural in faith and practice, for the 
period of above four centuries, is a pleasing employment. The con- 
tinued preservation which the Donatists realized amidst trials the 
most formidable, from crowned and mitred heads, is a satisfactory 
proof of their character, as forming part of that Church against 
which the gates of hell shall never successfully prevail. We can not 
help realizing a sacred respect for the memories of this body of 
people, whose religious profession and views were so nearly allied to 



30 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



ours; and some feelings of pleasure may be lawfully indulged at 
the remembrance of being their legitimate successors." 

When we commenced this narrative, we only intended tracing the 
Church from the Apostles down, but while progressing with the 
work, have become convinced of the propriety of inserting occa- 
sionally some of the corruptions and usurpations of the clergy of 
the Catholic Church, so that the reader may the better appreciate 
the motive and faithfulness of our brethren in contending for the 
truth. The Catholic party, before the days of Constantine, had 
become very relax in discipline; in consequence of which the body 
had become very impure, and when the Emperor Constantine con- 
nected the affairs of the Church with the State, the inducements to 
corrupt and worldly minded and designing men to get into the 
Church, were much greater than had been; the effects of which 
become developed more and more until the sixth century, when the 
clergy became more contentious and ambitious for power, and many 
stratagems through intrigue were used to gain it. 

In the year 588, one John, the Pastor, a prelate distinguished for 
his authority, in a council held in Constantinople, assumed the title 
of Universal Bishop, which was confirmed to him by the council. 
This appellation, says Jones, which implied a pre-eminence difficult 
to be endured by those who were as ambitious as himself, was 
opposed vehemently by Pelagius, then Bishop of Rome, who called 
it an execrable, profane and diabolical procedure; but he soon died, 
and Gregory the Great assumed the warfare and came out in a 
strong letter against the assumption, and fought it until he procured the 
same position for himself at Rome. Now we sec the Man of Sin fully 
in power, professing himself to be God, or governor of his kingdom. 

The lovers and defenders of the truth had been so oppressed for 
two hundred years that they had become scattered, and very many 
of them had left Italy and Africa, their native lands, and sought 
shelter in more private and sparsely settled portions of the world, 
and what few there were left produced no alarm in the minds of 
their enemies. This, no doubt, was the reason they were so seldom 
alluded to by the historians of those times. 

Historians say very little about Christianity in the kingdom of 
Bohemia previous to this time. The country is described as follow.- : 
" In point of territorial surface, the most elevated grounds, the most 
mountainous, and by nature the strongest in Germany. The country 
is about three hundred miles long and two hundred and fifty broad, 
and is almost surrounded by impenetrable forests and lofty moun- 
tains. Bohemia derived its name from Bohmen, which signifies 
the country of the Boh. In 590, a tribe of Celts retired into the 
Hereyian forests from Gaul, to avoid the Roman yoke. The ancient 
inhabitants are represented by cotemporary historians as a people 
of a ruddy complexion, and of enormous stature and muscular 
strength." Jones Ch. Hist., p. 195. We shall have occasion to 
allude to the Baptists in this country more fully hereafter. 



DUEING THE SEVENTH CENTURY. 31 



SEVENTH CENTURY. 

It is asserted by historians that few of the clergy of the estab- 
lished religion could compose a discourse in the seventh century. 
We have already alluded to the flight of the persecuted saints into 
the valleys of Piedmont during the early ages; and in the sixth and 
seventh centuries we find large accessions to these valleys in search 
of shelter from the persecution of the Roman pontiffs, who were 
called Waldenses. Here they were more at liberty to oppose the 
tyranny of those imperious prelates. The antiquity of the Wal- 
denses is asserted by their friends and corroborated by their ene- 
mies. T)r. McLain, quoted by Moshiem, says — "We may affirm, 
with the learned Boza, that these people derived their names from 
the valleys they inhabited; and hence Peter of Lyons was called, in 
Latin, Valdees, because he had adopted their doctrine." Reiner 
Sacco speaks of the Lyonists as a sect that flourished above five 
hundred years (back to 750); while he mentions writers of note 
amongst them, who make their antiquity remount to the Apostles' 
age. Theodore Belvidre, a Popish monk, says that the heresy had 
always been in the valleys. In the preface .to the first French 
Bible, the translators say that they (the Waldenses) have always had 
the full enjoyment of the heavenly truth contained in the Holy 
Scriptures ever since they were enriched with the same by the 
Apostles, having, in fair manuscript, preserved the entire Bible in 
their native tongue from generation to generation. Moreland's 
Hist., p. 14; Danvers, p. 18. 

It is not certain that the ancient Waldenses had any clergy as 
distinct from laity. Females were allowed to teach as well as men ; 
they laughed at the different classes of the priesthood. They took 
no oaths, but used a simple affirmation ; they believed in the doc- 
trine of the Trinity, and baptized believers; they refused baptism 
to infants, when it came into use in other Churches, and were con- 
sequently reproached with the term re-baptizers or Anabaptists. 

It is a prominent trait in the character of man, at all times, to be 
prepared with sufficient reasons, (at least satisfactory to himself,) to 
justify his course of action, consequently many of the daughters of 
Antichrist have become ashamed of their mother, and have laid 
claim to these people (the Waldenses) as their ancestors. This is in 
accordance with the prophet. Let us be called by thy name to take 
away our reproach. Isa. iv: 1. Beze affirms the Waldenses were 
the relics of the pure primitive Christian Churches; some of them 
were called "the poor of Lyons." Paul Perrin asserts that the 
Waldenses were, time out of mind, in Italy and Dalmatia, and were 
the offspring of the Novatianists, who were persecuted and driven 
from Rome A. D. 413, and who for purity in communion were called 
Puritans. The name of Paterines was given to the Waldenses, who 
for the most part held the same opinions, and therefore have been 



32 HISTORY OP THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



taken for the same class of people, who continued till the Keforma- 
tion under the name of Paterines or Waldenses. There was no 
difference in religious views between the Albigenses and Waldenses. 
All these people inhabited the south of France and were called in 
general Albigenses, and in doctrine and manners were not distinct 
from the Waldenses. Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, says, as to the 
Vondois, they were a species of Donatists and worse than the 
ancient Donatists. They formed their Churches of only good men; 
they all, without distinction, if they were reputed good people, 
preached and administered the ordinances. The Waldenses were in 
religious sentiments substantially the same as the Paulicians, Pater- 
ines, Puritanes and Albigenses. Surely the seventh century Avas an 
age when iniquity abounded, and deceivers grew worse and worse. 
The various farces that were practiced by the Catholic Church in 
these times were worse than mockery — ihey were indecent and 
degrading to human beings. We will here quote Mons. Voltaire, 
as given by Mr. Jones. He says everything sacred in religion 
during this period in the West, was disfigured by customs the most 
ridiculous and extravagant. The festivals of fools and asses were 
established in most Churches. On days of solemnity, they created 
a bishop of fools, and an ass was led into the body of the Church, 
dressed in a cape and four-cornered cap; church dances, feastings on 
the altar, revelry, and obscene farces, were the ceremonies observed 
on those festivals, and in many dioceses these extravagances were 
continued for several centuries. This picture is only a sample of 
many extravagances practiced in those days, and that, too, under the 
sacred name of the religion of Jesus Christ. The perusal of this 
paragraph will no doubt cause the reader to sigh for the degenerate 
state of his race. In this seventh century, when ''darkness covered 
the earth and gross darkness the people/' Mahomet arose to scourge 
the nations. His prospects for a time were by no means flattering; 
his friends advised him to abandon his designs, but his persevering 
disposition prompted him to continue, and time developed his suc- 
cess in captivating the people. # 

We will now turn our attention to a subject that is more pleasing, 
and brings us back to the subject of this narrative. About the year 
660, a new sect arose in the East under the name of Paulicians, 
under circumstances as follows: In Mananalis, an obscure town in 
the vicinity of Somosata, a person of the name of Constantine enter- 
tained at his house a deacon who had been a prisoner among the 
Mohammedans, and was returning from Syria, whither he had been 
carried away captive. From this passing stranger, Constantine 
received the precious gift of the New Testament in its original lan- 
guage, which, even at this early period, was so concealed from the 
vulgar that Peter Sieulus, to whom we are mostly indebted for our 
information on the history of the Paulicians, tells us the first scru- 
ples of a Catholic, when he was advised to read the Bible, was, " It 
is not lawful for us profane persons to read those sacred writings, 



•DURING THE SEVENTH CENTURY. 33 



but for the priests only." Jones' Hist., p. 243. Our historians 
inform us that at this time the generality of people were not capa- 
ble of reading that or any other book ; but even those of the laity 
who could read were dissuaded by their religious guide from med- 
dling with the Bible. Constantine, however, made the best use of 
the deacon's present; he studied his New Testament with unwearied 
assiduity, and more particularly the writings of the Apostle Paul, 
from which he at length endeavored to deduce a system of doctrine 
and worship. He investigated the creed of primitive Christianity, 
says Gibbon, " and whatever might be the success, a Protestant 
reader will applaud the spirit of the inquiry. The knowledge to 
which Constantine himself was, under the divine blessing, enabled 
to attain, he gladly communicated to others around him, and a 
Christian Church was collected. In a little time several individuals 
arose among them qualified for the work of the ministry, and several 
other Churches were collected throughout Armenia and Cappadocia. 
It appears from the whole of their history to have been a leading 
object with Constantine and his brethren to restore, as far as possi- 
ble, the profession of Christianity to all its primitive simplicity. 
Their appearance soon attracted the notice of the Catholic party, 
who immediately branded them with the opprobrious name of 
Manichseans, but they sincerely condemned the memory and opin- 
ions of the Manichsean sect, and complained of the injustice which 
impressed that invidious name on them. 

It is reasonable to suppose from the character of these people, as 
given by various historians, and from the time when, and the coun- 
try where they first made their appearance, and the circumstances 
under which they took their rise, that the God of heaven took this 
simple mode of raising up a people, to again enlighten the eastern 
horizon with the pure truths of the Gospel. He still had a chosen 
people there, that, according to His purpose, should serve Him. 
How mysterious are His dealings, and His ways past finding out. 
The soundness of the faith and practice of these people are evi- 
dences that God attended the word by His Spirit, to give them the 
true import thereof, and that their faith and practice should be 
unmixed with human philosophy, which is a trait in all man-made 
systems and establishments. In order that the reader may judge of 
the purity of their church polity, we will give some extracts of his- 
torians in relation to their practice. Mr. Jones says : " In churches 
of the Paulicians, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, 
they held to be peculiar to the communion of the faithful, that is, 
to be restricted to believers." " It is evident," says Mosheim, " they 
rejected the baptism of infants. They were not charged with any 
errors concerning baptism. They were simply scriptural in the use 
of the sacraments." Says Milner: " They were orthodox in the 
doctrine of the Trinity, they knew of no other mediator than the 
Lord Jesus Christ." " They were hooted in council," says Robin- 
3 



34 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



son, " for calling the established church a worldly community, and 
re-baptizing such as joined their churches." 

Constantine gave himself the scriptural name of Sylvanus. He 
preached with great success in Pontus and Cappadocia. Regions once 
enlightened, and renowned for Christianity, were again blessed with 
the Gospel through his exertions. The body of Christians in 
Armenia came over to the Paulicians, and embraced their views. In 
a little time, congregations were gathered in Asia Minor, to the west- 
ward of the river Euphrates. Their opinions were also silently 
propagated in Rome, Milan, and in the kingdoms beyond the Alps, 
(France.) Mosheim say6 their standard of perfection was so high 
in Christian morals, that their increasing congregations were divided 
into two classes of disciples, which can be traced through the Albi- 
genses, Waldenses, Germanic, and Dutch Baptist churches, from this 
parent stock. Sylvanus spent twenty-seven years of his life in 
preaching the Gospel in different provinces ; he took up his resi- 
dence at Colosse, and disseminated his opinions all around. The 
preaching and exertions of these people to establish and maintain a 
pure system of Gospel truth, seemed to be attended with divine 
approbation, and multitudes embraced a Gospel simply and fully 
preached. 

The dominant party, alarmed at the progress of this pure Gospel 
light, and the wonderful success attending it, the Greek emperors 
began to persecute them with the most sanguinary severity. The 
Paulicians were sentenced to be capitally punished, and their books, 
wherever found, to be committed to the flames; and further, that if 
any person was found to have secreted them, he was to be put to 
death and his goods confiscated. 

A Greek officer, Simeon, armed with legal and military authority, 
appeared at Corona to strike the shepherd, Sylvanus, and to reclaim, 
if possible, the lost sheep. This instrument of Satan arrested Syl- 
vanus and placed him before a line of his disciples, whom he com- 
manded, as the price of their pardon, and as proof of their peni- 
tence, to stone to death their Spiritual Father. The devoted flock 
turned aside from the impious requirement, and the stones fell from 
their filial hands, and of the whole number only one executioner 
could be found. This apostate, Justus, after putting Sylvanus to 
death, betrayed many others, probably their pastors and teachers, 
who shared the same fate as their venerable leader. While Simeon 
himself, struck with the evidence of divine grace apparent in the 
sufferers, embraced at length the faith he came to destroy, renounced 
his station, resigned his honors and fortunes, and became a zealous 
preacher among the Paulicians, and at last sealed his testimony with 
his blood. For one hundred and fifty years, these Christians were 
almost incessantly subjected to persecution, which they bore with 
patience ; and no doubt if we had their full history given by others 
than their most inveterate enemies, we should find all the traits of 
pure Gospel order, and sentiments that characterized the church for 



DURING THE EIGHTH CENTURY. 35 



the two first centuries. It happened to the Paulicians as it did to 
all others that dissented from the corruptions of the Catholic church. 
They were accused of many corrupt practices by their enemies, 
which much allowance should be made for; yet we see many things 
recorded by their enemies in relation to their order and the purity 
and uprightness of their conduct, which shows the inconsistency of 
those charges. And when we consider the pen of an enemy never 
writes smooth things of his adversary, we may reasonably conclude 
that the Paulician doctrine and church polity, was a shining light 
of Gospel truth in the seventh century. To free the East from those 
commotions that grew out of the persecutions of the Paulicians, a 
great many of them were transported into Thrace during this cen- 
tury ; but still a greater number were left in Syria and the adjoining 
countries. From Thrace, these people passed into Bulgaria and 
Sclavonia, where they settled in their own church order. From 
these churches, at after periods, colonies were sent out, and they are 
said to have inundated Europe, and relics of these ancient commu- 
nities were to be traced till the fifteenth century. More of these 
people in next century. 



EIGHTH CENTURY. 

It appears that early in the eighth century the ernperors and 
clergy exerted their power with a zeal inflamed by hatred and 
malice, against the Paulicians, whose rise and progress formed a 
large share of our narrative for the seventh century, and notwith- 
standing every means of oppression was used, and every system of 
barbarity exhausted, yet their integrity could not be shaken, nor 
their obstinacy overcome, " who possessed," says Mosheim, " a forti- 
tude worthy of a better cause." These people continued to be 
hunted and persecuted until near the close of the eighth century. 
During these times, the Greeks to subdue them, made use of argu- 
ments and arms, and the threats of punishment under the penal 
laws, all of which failed to accomplish the desired object. They 
deprecated the # decrees and edicts of councils and bishops, they 
adhered alone to the teachings of the New Testament, no doubt 
relying on the oath and promise of the Saviour, that the Holy Spirit 
should abide with and guide His humble followers into all truth. 
One Sergius was recommended by a Paulician woman to read Paul's 
writings, and his attention to the sabred writing brought him to 
embrace their views ; and for thirty-four years he devoted himself 
to the ministry of the Gospel. Through every city and province 
that Sergius could reach, he preached the saving merits of Christ, 
and with such success that the clergy in the hierarchies considered 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



him to be the forerunner of Antichrist, and declared he was pro- 
ducing the great apostacy foretold by Paul. When Nicephorus 
came to the throne, he restored to them their civil and religious 
liberties. During this auspicious season, the Paulicians widely 
disseminated their opinions, and it is recorded that they became 
formidable to the East. Chambers and others. 

Those persecuting laws which had been suspended for some years, 
were renewed early in the ninth century, the accounts of which we will 
connect with the history of the eighth century, as the accounts given 
of the Baptists in those two centuries are rather meagre. Under the 
reign of Michael and Leo, they made strict inquisition throughout 
every province in the Grecian Empire, and inflicted capital punish- 
ment upon such of them as refused to return to the bosom of the 
Church. The Paulicians are said to have taken refuge in those 
provinces governed by the Saracens, and that, in union with those 
barbarians, they infested the Grecian States. The power and 
influence of these people were found to be so great as to suggest the 
policy of allowing them to return to their own habitations and dwell 
there in tranquility. The severest persecution experienced by them 
was encouraged by the Empress Theodora, A. D. 845. Her decrees 
were severe, but the cruelty by which they were put into execution 
by her officers was horrible indeed. Orchard says: " Mountains and 
hills were covered with inhabitants. Her sanguinary inquisitors 
explored cities and mountains in Lesser Asia. After confiscating 
the goods and property of one hundred thousand of these people, 
the owners to that number, were put to death in the most horrible 
manner, and made to expire slowly under a variety of the most 
exquisite tortures. The flatterers of the Empress boast of having 
extirpated in nine years that number of" Paulicians. Many of them 
were scattered abroad, particularly in Bulgaria. Some of them 
fortified the city Teprice, and Philippopolis, from which last city 
they were called Philippopolitanes, and though they were driven 
hence, yet the spirit of independence was not subdued. 

This persecution caused many of the people to flee to the Saracens, 
who received them with compassion ; and in conjunction with 
whom they maintained a war with the Grecian nation for a period 
of one hundred and fifty years. During the reign of John Zimicus, 
they increased in strength at a rapid rate, and during the tenth cen- 
tury they spread throughout different provinces. »From Bulgaria 
they removed into Italy, and from thence through the other provinces 
of Europe. It is said they became exceedingly troublesome to the 
Roman Pontiffs upon many occasions. Here their history ends, so 
far as it respects the Levant; but we shall notice them again in their 
migratory movements in other countries, and by different names. 
Mr. Gibbon asserts that the sentiments of the Paulicians were prop- 
agated at Rome and Milan during the seventh century. And 
Bonizo, Bishop of Sutrium, in the eighth century, says that the 
Paterines arose, or became more conspicuous, during the pontificate 



DURING THE EIGHTH CENTURY. 37 



of Stephen the Second. The public devotion of the Paterines, con- 
sisted of social prayer, reading the Scriptures, and expounding them, 
and they practiced baptism once, and the Lord's Supper as often as 
convenient. 

Italy was full of such Christians, who bore various names from 
various causes. They held that a Christian Church ought to consist 
of only good people — had no power to frame any constitution; they 
considered it making laws and regulations for the Church, aside 
from what Christ and his Apostles authorized, and that it was not 
right to take oaths; it was not lawful to kill mankind, nor should 
he be delivered up to the officers of the law to be converted from 
error, but that faith alone in God and Jesus Christ could save a 
man; the benefit of society belonged to all its members, the Church 
ought not to persecute ; the law of Moses was no rule for Christians. 
The Catholics of these times baptized by immersion, and neither the 
Novatianists of Rome, the Donatists of Africa, the Paulicians of 
Armenia, or the Paterines of Italy, complained of the action or 
mode of baptism as administered by the Catholic Church; but they 
objected vehemently against the baptism of infants, and condemned 
it as an error. All these people were persecuted for righteous acts 
and virtuous conduct. In 714, the Moors entered Spain and con- 
quered that kingdom. Their conquest is said to have been rather 
favorable to liberty, and even religious freedom could be procured 
for a small sum ; yet these Baptists disdained to purchase a native 
right, consequently they fled to the mountains which separate Cata- 
lonia from Narbonensian Gaul. 

France was alike subject to those marauders from 721 to 732, 
with the rest of the Western Empire. At the latter date, Charles 
Martel was successful in recovering his kingdom from the usurpers, 
and this military chieftain took the treasures of the Church, with 
which he rewarded his soldiers. To what extent the Baptist 
Churches realized injury from the barbarians we do not learn, 
though it is certain the mountains afforded an asylum to many 
Christians while they governed those kingdoms, and when tran- 
quility was restored, the Spanish refugees emigrated and settled in 
the French Provinces, near the foot of the Pyrenees. Near the 
middle of the eighth century, many thousand of these, people, with 
their wives, children, and servants, emigrated over the Pyrenees, 
from the Spanish to the French foot of the mountains. Gibbon's 
Hist., 6, 52. 

During the reign of Charles the Great, the several kingdoms and 
provinces contiguous to France, were kept in agitation from his 
military enterprises. He brought into France from Rome the 
Georgian liturgy, which was appointed to supersede the Gallican. 
This bold innovation caused some confusion in the kingdom. He 
resolved on subduing the Saxons, who were Pagans and inhabited 
a great part of Germany, but this he found impracticable. While 
his attention was drawn toward those Pagan Saxons, it is reasonable 



HISTOEY OF THE CHUECH OF CHEIST. 



to suppose that the unassuming Vaudois, (which seems to be a name 
often applied to those people who opposed the corruptions of the 
Catholic Church,) enjoyed some little repose and tranquility from 
their cruel persecutors. About the year 850, it is recorded of 
Henchmar, Bishop of Laudan, in France, that he renounced infant 
baptism, and that his diocese was accused in the Synod of Accinicus 
of not baptizing children. This minister comes in for his share of 
reproach from Catholics and all infant sprinklers, which is strong 
presumptive proof of his reforming measures disturbing the hire- 
lings in office. Orchard says: "During the kingdom of the Goths 
and Lombards, the Baptists, or, as they were called by Catholics, 
Anabaptists, had their share of Churches and Baptisteries in those 
provinces, though they held no communion with Rome, Milan, 
Aquileia, Ravenna, or any other hierarchy." But the laws of Em- 
perors soon deprived them of those edifices, and transferred them 
to the Catholic party. Rob. Res., p. 405. 

We have left those persecuted followers of the Lamb in France 
mostly, but all the country bordering on the Pyreneean mountains 
seems to have afforded the most suitable places of retreat from their 
cruel enemies. Several provinces, bordering on these mountains, 
afforded an opportunity to those oppressed Christians that when 
persecution arose against them in one province they could fly across 
the mountains into another, where they could find some repose. 
How wonderful are the dealings of God in controlling the universe. 
Notwithstanding he suffered the nations of the earth to be governed 
by wicked men, combined with all the religious fanaticism that the 
delusions of Antichrist could invent; yet while they were enforcing 
destructive edicts against the faithful soldiers of the cross in one 
country, God was giving succor to them in another, so that their 
increase was gradual but sure; for God had spoken, and the com- 
bined powers of Antichrist could not stay it, that his kingdom 
should never be destroyed. The Baptists outside of the valleys of 
Piedmont suffered greatly during this century. 



NINTH CENTURY. 

In the commencement of the ninth century, those people that 
may properly be termed Baptists were quite numerous in Italy, and 
notwithstanding the continued exertions of the combined powers of 
Church and State to exterminate heresy, they, from various causes, 
had considerably increased. Those of their Churches where bap- 
tism was administered, were known by the name of Baptismal 
Churches, and to such Churches all the Christians in the vicinage 
flocked for baptism. When Christianity spread into the country, 



DURING THE NINTH CENTURY. 



the people met for worship where they could, but all candidates for 
baptism came up to the Baptismal Church to receive the ordinance. 
In time baptisteries were built in the country, and, like the old 
ones, were resorted to by the neighboring inhabitants. There was a 
shadow of this among the reformed Churches of Piedmont. 

We have traced the Church of Christ, from its formation at Jeru- 
salem, through Italy, Africa, Spain, and France, and some other 
small provinces. And we see that the Catholic party at Rome, 
situated as they were, in the great metropolis of the empire, became 
opulent and proud, and the self-sacrificing spirit of the meek and 
lowly Savior soon ceased to be the object of their desires or a 
criterion for their action. Their elders and their bishops became 
ambitious of power, and too proud to submit to the unsophisticated 
order of the kingdom; and during forty years' toleration under the 
reign of a succession of Emperors at short intervals, had increased 
the number of Christians greatly in different parts of the empire. 
The great concern for their own safety had ceased, and they became 
guilty of many innovations in the order and discipline of the 
Church, and some of the Churches in other parts shunned their 
examples. When Deoius came to the throne in 849, he required by 
edicts all persons in the empire to conform to Pagan worship. In 
two years the persecution ceased, and those who had apostatized 
applied for restoration to Christian fellowship, and the readiness of 
the Church to receive them without any genuine appearance of 
heartfelt repentance for their apostacy, caused Novatian, a presbyter, 
to dissent and separate himself from the Church, and with many 
others who were disgusted at the hasty admission of such apostates, 
and with the conduct of many pastors who were more concerned 
about numbers than purity of communion, formed a separate inter- 
est, who were known by his name for several centuries. When the 
Catholic party began to persecute these Baptists, and they had to fly 
to other parts for safety, we see the interposition of the Divine hand 
in directing their course toward the valleys of Piedmont, where his 
Church should assemble, and the ingathering of his people from all 
parts where the floods of persecution were raging against them, and 
in these valleys bore testimony to the truth, and received the prom- 
ised nourishment from their Divine Master, " for a time, and times, 
and halt a time, from the face of the serpent." Rev. xii: 14. 

Paul Perrin asserts that the Waldenses were, time out of mind, in 
Italy and Dalmatia, and were the offspring of the Novatianists, who 
were driven from Rome, A. D. 400, (or rather 413,) and who, for 
purity in communion, were called Puritans. Orchard C. H., p. 250. 

About the same date, the persecutions in Africa became very 
oppressive on those who dissented from the Catholic party. The 
Donatists were many of them persecuted unto death, and others who 
escaped death were driven from the country, and it is reasonable to 
suppose that some of them made their way to these valleys. Bos- 
suet says, speaking of the Waldenses, " as to the Yaudois, they were 



40 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



a species of Donatists. The Albigenses in France, and the Pater- 
ines of Italy, and the Paulicians in Armenia, all holding the same 
doctrines substantially of the Novatianists and Donatists, are all 
spoken of as having communities in these valleys. But from the 
best historical information now extant, it is evident that the gospel 
was preached there, and Churches established in the second century; 
for it is stated by Moreland and Gilly that they had the Holy Scrip- 
tures, ever since they were enriched with the same by the Apostles ; 
having in fair MSS. preserved the entire Bible in their native 
tongue, from generation to generation. Having traced a people 
from the Apostles down to the century of which we speak, known 
by different names, at different times, yet all holding the same tenets, 
preaching the same doctrine, practicing the same ordinances, discard- 
ing all human inventions in religion, opposing the innovations and 
corruptions of the Catholic Church, observing the Scriptural order 
in all matters of religion, and now concentrating in these valleys, 
where the Captain of their salvation designed them to have some 
repose. And it seems that the purpose of God toward these people, 
in this locality, was still to be further developed. Historians inform 
us that the Catholics had a strong interest there, and to all human 
appearance the prospects of toleration to Christians were gloomy; 
but many times when God's children consider their prospects most 
gloomy they are most safe. At a period when ignorance, supersti- 
tion, and iniquity, almost universally prevailed, and' the Catholic 
Church or community were locked up in a moral slumber, and the 
Emperors becoming jealous of the growing usurpations of the 
clergy, and the Emperor of France being desirous to (.-heck the 
growing torrent of image worship, promoted Claude to the See of 
Turin, about the year 817. 

In this event the purpose of God is plainly seen in sending a 
man to preside over the Catholic interest in Piedmont who was 
qualified and capable to successfully oppose the corruptions of that 
party, and to pave the way for truth to have free course. The 
expectations of the Emperor were fully realized in the labors of 
Claude; by his writings he ably illustrated the sacred Scriptures, 
and drew the attention of multitudes to their plain and simple 
meaning, unadulterated by the corrupt glosses of the Catholic 
priesthood. 

Mr. Jones says : " Let it be observed, then, that throughout the 
whole of his writings, he maintains that Jesus Christ is the alone 
head of the Church." This, the reader will perceive, struck imme- 
diately at the root of the first principles of Popery — the vicarious 
office 'of the Bishop of Rome. He utterly discards the doctrine of 
human worthiness in the article of justification, in such a manner as 
overthrows all the subtle distinctions of Papists on the subject. He 
pronounced anathemas against traditions in matters of religion, and 
thus drew the attention of men to the word of God, and that alone 



DURING THE NINTH CENTURY. 41 



as the ground of a Christian faith. He maintained that men are 
justified by faith without the deeds of law. 

The reader may judge of his style and sentiments from the follow- 
ing extracts in the illustration of the Lord's Supper: "The apostles 
being set down at the table, Jesus Christ took bread, blessed and 
brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying to them, take and eat — 
this is my body. The ancient solemnities of the Passover, which 
were used in commemoration of the deliverance of the children of 
Israel, being ended, he passeth on to the new, because He would 
have the same to be celebrated in His Church as a memorial of 
the history of her redemption, and to substitute the sacrament of 
His body and of His blood instead of the flesh and blood of the 
paschal lamb ; and to show that it was He himself to whom God 
had sworn, and shall never repent — 'Thou art the eternal Priest, 
according to the order of Melchisedec.'" 

Moreover, He himself breaks the bread which He gives to the 
disciples, that he might present and make it appear that the break- 
ing of His body would not be contrary to His inclination or without 
His willingness to die; but as He himself, elsewhere says, that He 
had power to give His life, and to deliver it up himself, as well as 
to take it again and raise himself from the dead. He blessed the 
bread before He brake it, to teach us that He intended to make sacra- 
ment of it. When he drew nigh to the time of His death and 
passion, it is said, that having taken the bread and cup, He gave 
thanks to his eternal Father. He who had taken upon Him to 
expiate the iniquities of others gave thanks to His Father without 
having done anything that was worthy of death ; He blesseth it 
with profound humility at the very time He was himself laden with 
stripes, no doubt to teach us that submission which we ought to 
exercise under the chastening hand of God. Jones' C. H., p. 252. 

We have only given an extract of a small portion of Claude's 
comments on this subject; but sufficient, we think, to show his utter 
disapproval of the tenets taught by the Catholic Church (under 
w T hose authority he held his charge) on this important subject, of 
Gospel truth. We shall give further extracts from his comprehen- 
sive answers to two French monks, who took strong exceptions to 
the doctrines he was propagating, as given by Mr. Jones: " In the 
year 828, Claude was attacked most furiously by a French monkish 
writer by the name of Dungalus, who censured him for taking upon 
himself, after a lapse of more than eight hundred and twenty years, 
to reprove those things that had hitherto been in continual use, as if 
there had been none before himself that had ever had any zeal for 
religion. About the same time, another writer of the same school, 
whose name was Theodemirus, wrote to him, giving him to under- 
stand that his opinions and behavior gave great offence." 

In answer to which, he says : " I have received by a special messen- 
ger your letter, with the articles wholly stuffed with babblings and 
fooleries. You declare in these articles that you have been troubled, 



42 HISTORY OF THE CHUECH OF CHRIST. 



that my fame was spread not only throughout all Italy, but in Spain 
and elsewhere, as if I were preaching a new doctrine or setting 
myself up as a founder of a new sect, contrary to the rules of the 
ancient Catholic faith, which is an absolute falsehood. But it is no 
wonder that the members of Satan should talk of me at this rate, 
since they called (Christ) our head a deceiver, and one that had a 
devil, etc. For I teach no new heresy, but keep myself to the 
pure truth, preaching and publishing nothing but that. On the con- 
trary, as far as in me lies, I have repressed, opposed, cast down and 
destroyed, and do still suppress, oppose and destroy to the utmost of 
my power, all sects, schisms, superstitions and heresies, and shall 
never cease to do so, God being my helper, as far as in me lies. 
When I came to Turin, I found all the churches full of abomina- 
tions and images ; and because I began to destroy what every one 
adored, every one began to open his mouth against me." Again, he 
says: "All these tilings are ridiculous, and rather to be lamented 
than set forth in writing; but we are compelled to state them in 
opposition to fools, and to declaim against those hearts of stone, 
which the arrows and sentences of the word of God cannot pierce. 
Come to yourselves again, ye miserable transgressors; why are ye 
gone astray from the truth, and why, having become vain, are ye 
fallen in love with vanity? Why do ye crucify again the Son of 
God afresh and expose him to open shame, and by these means 
make souls by troops, to become the companions of devils, estrang- 
ing them from their Creator by the horrible sacrilege of your images 
and likenesses, and thus precipitating them into everlasting damna- 
tion ? " 

Again, he says: "We know very well that this passage of the 
Gospel is quite misunderstood — 'Thou art Peter, and upon this 
rock I will build my church, and I will give unto thee the keys of 
the Kingdom of Heaven,' under pretence of which words, the stupid 
and ignorant multitude, destitute of all spiritual knowledge, betake 
themselves to Rome in hope of acquiring eternal life." He says, 
again, "The fifth thing for which you reproach me is, that you are 
much displeased, because the apostolic lord (for so you are pleased 
to nominate the late Pope Paschal.) had honored me with this 
charge. But you should remember that he is alone apostolic who is 
the keeper and guardian of the Apostles' doctrine, and not he who 
boasts himself of being seated in the chair of the Apostle, and in 
the meantime neglects to acquit himself of the apostolic charge ; for 
the Lord saith the Scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses' seat." 

He winds up by saying, near the close of his career: "For the 
confirmation and defence of the truth, I am become a reproach to 
my neighbors, to that degree that those who see us do not only scoff 
at us, but point at us one to another. But God, the Father of Mer- 
cies, and author of all consolation, hath comforted us in all our 
afflictions, that we may be able, in like manner, to comfort those 
that are cast down with sorrow and affliction. We rely upon the 



DURING THE TENTH CENTURY. 43 



protection of Him who hath armed and fortified ns with the armor 
of righteousness and of faith, the tried shield of our salvation." It 
would seem to be a matter of surprise that any man in those times 
would spend twenty years openly warring against the corruptions of 
the Catholic Church, yet some natural causes may be assigned — the 
time had not yet arrived when the Pope was clothed with universal 
sway over both Church and State, and the Emperor of France at this 
time seemed to be jealous of the grasping disposition of the priest- 
hood, and, no doubt, looked upon Claude's efforts as being a great 
drawback to their growing importance ; consequently, the Emperor 
stood in the way of the Pope's carrying out his persecutions against 
this able defender of truth. These appear to be the natural causes, 
yet there was, no doubt, a greater cause underlying all these, to- wit: 
the purpose of God. The labors of Claude were well calculated to 
calm the prejudices of the Catholic party in those valleys toward the 
Vaudois, that had concentrated there, and to prepare the people of 
his diocese for a general dissension from the communion of the 
established Church, which Mr. Robinson thinks, took place in half 
a century after his death. 

Notwithstanding many of the faithful servants of God have found 
some repose from the cruelties of their enemies in the valleys of 
Piedmont, yet we have left great numbers of them, in different 
kingdoms, every century that we have passed through. Our 
accounts of the Baptists in Germany, up to this time, are rather 
limited, yet it seems they were quite numerous in the ninth century. 
Orchard says, it is recorded that the Baptist itinerant preachers 
would, in their travels, pass through the whole German Empire, 
and lodge every night at the house of one of their friends. It is 
very probable these traveling ministers were Paulicians or Paterines 
from Bulgaria or Italy. They were termed by Catholics Anabap- 
tist preachers. Their sentiments of religion are learned, and their 
views of the ordinances proved from their confession of faith, which 
asserts — " In the beginning of Christianity there was no baptizing 
of children, and their forefathers practiced no such thing;" and " we 
do from our hearts acknowledge that baptism is a washing which is 
performed with water, and doth hold out the washing of the soul 
from sin." Mosh. Hist. vol. 2, page 224 ; Bobbin's Res., pp. 467, 
513. 



TENTH CENTURY. 

It was in the tenth century that the Paulicians emigrated from 
Bulgaria and spread themselves through every province of Europe. 
This was a time when it was said that the Catholic community were 



44 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



in a deep sleep, with awful darkness brooding over every branch of 
that establishment, and during that state of inactivity the Baptists 
were actively engaged in exposing errors and proclaiming salvation 
by grace, through faith in Christ, the Redeemer. Gibbon says that 
it was in the country of the Albigenses, in the southern provinces of 
France, where the Paulicians mostly flourished. These people were 
known by different names in different countries. 

We here quote from Mosheim, as given by Orchard, p. 173: 
" Many efforts were made," says Mosheim, " by Protestants, the 
witnesses of the truth, by -whom are meant such pious and judicious 
Christians as adhere to the pure religion of the Gospel and remained 
uncorrupted amidst superstitions. It was principally in Italy and 
France that this heroic piety was exhibited." "This is an honor- 
able concession to the reforming Baptists. The Paterines were the 
zealous advocates of reform in Italy, while the same class of Chris- 
tians, under the name of Bulgarians, Paulicians, boni homines, Albi- 
genses, with several other titles, openly avowed in France the same 
doctrines and discipline of the Redeemer. Their united efforts were 
directed to restore Christianity to her original purity and to her 
legitimate and exalted position. 

We have given a great variety of names by which the Church of 
Christ has been known and distinguished from the Catholic, or 
Church of Antichrist, during the dark or obscure ages of the 
Christian era, and have stated the causes that gave rise to many of 
these appellations : yet we prove there was a great unanimity in their 
Christian faith and practice. Unfortunately for the cause of truth in 
those days, our historians were nearly all Catholics, and we know their 
prejudices were very strong against those whom they termed heretics, 
and no doubt many things were alleged against them, that they were 
guilty of. We find in the history of Dr. Mosheim and Robinson, not 
the Albigenses charged with holding the doctrine of Manicheism; 
but other historians consider the reproach of Manicheism has been 
improperly applied to them. And we find the Albigenses them- 
selves complaining bitterly of the injustice done them by their ene- 
mies, in charging them with Manicheism. Dr. Allix allows the 
reproach as not belonging to the Albigenses, which is conceded by 
Dr. Jorton, who asserts they had very little of the Manichean 
system attached to them. AVe find no system of theology formed 
from the Xew Testament, but partakes of some truth either in doc- 
trine or practice, and no doubt but the Manicheans held some things 
that were in accordance with Gospel truth. We have never been 
able to learn what portion of their doctrine it was, that was so objec- 
tionable, it is said that they held that good and evil proceeded 
from opposite causes ; and, if this is all their heresy, it may be that 
many of our modern churches, if properly examined, would be 
obnoxious to the same charge. The centuriators of Magdeburgh 
clear them of heresy. Bishop Usher and Newton, with Dr. Cave, 
have declared their soundness in the faith of the Gospel. 



DUEING THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. 45 



Now it is very apparent that those Albigensean churches, in their 
original constitution, did partake of the early Puritan sentiments 
since those churches were to some extent made up of those who 
retained the stern views of Novatian, and the doctrine of this great 
man is too well established and known, to admit of a doubt of his 
orthodoxy. The Albigenses with others, might in time have left off 
the rigorous course of Novatian in requiring all apostates, when 
returning to the Church to be re-baptized ; yet Dr. Allix says, that 
the Albigensean churches partaking of this excluding discipline is 
acknowledged. One thing is certain, that all the churches under 
those different names opposed infant baptism, and required faith by 
the subject before baptism. We now insert a short paragraph from 
Mr. Jones, p. 266 : " Indeed all our historians, civil and ecclesias- 
tical, agree in describing the tenth century of the Christian era as 
the darkest epoch in the annals of mankind." "The history of the 
Roman Pontiffs that lived in this tenth century," says the learned 
Mosheim, " is a history of many monsters, and not of men; as all 
■writers, even those of the Romish community, unanimously 
confess." 



ELEVENTH CENTURY. 

We enter upon the details of the eleventh century with some 
gleam of prosperity to the Church, notwithstanding their sufferings 
during this century were very great; though the death of their breth- 
ren, and the prospect of themselves being martyred could not affright 
them from the love of the truth, the work of righteousness, the 
exercise of faith, and the patience of hope. In the commencement 
of this century we find the Baptists assisted in France by a reformer, 
whose name was Leutard ; he preached to the people in the 
bishoprick of Chaalous. This man gained many followers. 

The labors of the Paulicians, Albigenses, or Vaudois, with Leut- 
ard, are noticed by Gerburtus, who became a disciple, and died 1003. 
The zealous and commendable exertions of these Puritans were the 
means of collecting many churches in different parts of France. 
One of the first religious assemblies which the Paulicians had 
formed in Europe is said to have been discovered at Orleans, in the 
year 1017, under the reign of Robert. A certain Italian lady is 
said to have been at the head of this sect. Its principal members 
were twelve men eminently distinguished by their piety and learn- 
ing, among whom Lisogius and Stephen held the first rank ; and it 
was composed in general of a considerable number of citizens who 
were far from being of the lower order. A council held at Orleans, 
used every exertion that could be devised to bring these people to a 



46 HISTOEY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



better mind, but all endeavors, failed. They adhered strenuously to 
their principle, and therefore were condemned to be burnt alive, which 
sentence was actually executed on thirteen of them. Afterwards the 
Puritans that came from France into Bulgaria were murdered without 
mercy. They held that baptism and the Lord's supper, possessed 
no virtue to justify. These clergymen, says Archbishop Usher, 
affirmed that there was no virtue capable of sanctifying the soul, in 
the eucharist or in baptism. For preaching this doctrine, their 
enemies took liberty of charging them with denying baptism and 
the sacrament; which, taking it in its broad sense, was vey far from 
being true. They denied the eucharist before baptism, and that 
baptism conferred no grace, and denied that ordinance to children. 
All those who practiced the baptism of infants at this period con- 
sidered the ordinance as conferring grace, which is allowed by Dr. 
Wall. Their denial of the infant rite was enough, in these times, 
to give their enemies a pretext to say they denied the ordinance. 
These people's characters were blackened in the most shocking man- 
ner by their enemies; but Mosheim allows that even their enemies 
acknowledged their sanctity, and that the accusations were evidently 
false. Jorton Rev., etc., vol. 5, p. 266. Wall's Hist., pt. 2, c. 6, p. 
105. Danver's Hist., p. 295. We here quote from Mr. Orchard's 
C. Hist., p. 178. In 1019 a synod was held at Toulouse, to con- 
sider the most effectual method to rid the province of the Albi- 
genses; and though the whole sect was, in 1022, said to have been 
burnt, yet the emigrants from Bulgaria, coining in colonies into 
France, kept the seed sown, and the churches recruited, and soon 
after, the same class of people was found inhabiting Languedoc and 
Gascony. It is recorded that Leuthericus, Archbishop of Sens, and 
who was a disciple of Gerburtus, advocated those views, which 
afterwards was charged on Berenger. Leuthericus died in 1032. 
The corruptions of the man of sin had now become so apparent to 
all men of discernment who had the privilege of reading the Scrip- 
tures, that they could no longor shut their eyes to the led that the 
Catholic Chur.-h was a sink of sin and not the repository of Gospel 
truth. And from this time up to the reformation by Luther, we 
shall have occasion to notice many reformers, who appeared boldly 
contending for the truth ; all of which had no tendency to weaken 
the iron grasp that the man of sin held upon the world of mankind, 
and prepare the way for the overthrow of his secular power. But 
while we record the valuable services of these reformers, and the 
reader contemplates their noble efforts, let us bear in mind that the 
Church of Jesus Christ have sacredly kept the truth of the Gospel, 
from the days of the Apostles, through successive centuries, and 
have stood in every age as a beacon light to all those have seen the 
danger of being carried away into the pool of destruction, by the 
corrupting waves of the sea of Rome. 5.0 doubt that those reform- 
ers, with their numerous followers, added much to the interest of 
the true Church, and were hailed by our brethren as the dawn of 



DURING THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. 47 



better times. About the year 1035, three reformers made their 
appearance, Bruno and Berengarius of France, and -Gundulphus in 
Italy, all of whom labored much to reform the corruptions of the 
Catholic Church. 

Orchard says Berengarius, by his discourses, charmed the people, 
and drew after him vast numbers of disciples. Some men of learn- 
ing united themselves with him, and spread his doctrines and views 
through France, Italy, Germany, and other kingdoms. The effects 
of these reformers' preaching was not only enlightening the ignor- 
ant, but it gave encouragement to the Baptists to come more promi- 
nently into society. The alarm was great to the Catholics, one of 
their prelates, Deodwin, Bishop of Seige, states that there is a report 
come out of France, and gone through Germany, that Bruno, Bishop 
of Angiers, and Berengarius, Archdeacon of the same church, main- 
tain that the host is not the Lord's body, and as far as in them lies 
overthrow the baptism of infants. Matthew, of Westminster, speaks 
of Berenger (Berengarius) as having corrupted all Italy. It means, 
says Dr. Allix, that his followers, who were of the same stamp with 
Patarines, kept to the primitive faith of the Church, which it was 
the object of the Popes to remove them from; and, in their oppos- 
ing the Church of Rome, they were called heretics and corrupters, 
though this name and practice belonged rightly to the Popish party. 
His success was so great that old historians say that France, Italy, 
Germany, England, the Belgic countries, etc., were infected with 
his principles. No doubt thousands joined witli him that had been 
strongly opposed to the Church and party in power, but dared not 
•avow it for fear of the persecution and punishments that were 
inflicted upon dissenters, but finding in Berengarius a bold defender 
of their faith, they took courage and came out from their state of 
obscurity, and publicly professed their disapprobation of the cor- 
ruj tions of the Church of Pome. Berengarius called the Church 
of Borne a community of " malignants, the council of vanity, and 
the seat of Satan." It is said that he was required by the Pope to 
renounce his errors and burn his writings, which he actually did, 
and yet he ceased not while he lived to write and speak in the same 
severe strain. 

One Valdo was a chief counsellor of Berengarius, and was re- 
markable for purity of doctrine. He was an eminent man, and had 
many followers, but as there is no further account given of him we 
may reasonably suppose that the bold and brilliant efforts of Beren- 
garius attracted the attention of the Catholic party, and caused them 
to overlook the labors of Valdo, which were less to be dreaded. 
Berengarius began the work of reformation when young, and con- 
tinued to preach for fiftv years. He died 1091, aged eighty. Wall's 
Hist., pt. 2, p. 216. 

Orchard says: "Notwithstanding his versatility of mind, he left 
behind him in the minds of the people a deep impression of his 
extraordinary sanctity, and his followers were as numerous as his 



48 HISTORY OF THE CHUECH OF CHRIST. 



fame was illustrious. His views of religion appear to have been 
Scriptural. His followers were called Gospelers for one hundred 
years, and many of them suffered death for their opinions. On his 
followers being examined, they said baptism did not profit children." 
Bellarmine says: " The Berengarians admitted only adults to bap- 
tism, which error the Anabaptists embraced." And Mczeray de- 
clares Berengarius to have been head of the Sacramentarians or 
Anabaptists. They were of the same stamp with the Patarines, and 
from the identity of their doctrines they were called Albigenses — 
Berengarians and Vaudois were equivalent terms. Morell declares 
it was computed in 1160 that above eight hundred thousand persons 
professed the Berengarian faith. Thus, says Dr. Allix: "That the 
Albigenses were the disciples of Peter Waldo, and consequently 
they are to be considered originally as a colonv of Vaudois." Dr. 
Allix' His. 

Having taken a brief notice of the Baptists, or Church of Christ, 
in France during the eleventh century, we now come to notice them 
in the valleys of Piedmont during the same time. The leading 
object of these people seemed to be to disseminate truth, practical 
godliness and piety. While other countries around them were 
engaged in persecuting all those who refused to buy or sell under 
the mark of the beast, these valleys afforded an asylum for the 
oppressed of all nations, where they could hide from the face of the 
serpent. Rev. xii: 14. We might exclaim, in a religious sense, 
O, happy people, where neither pride, arrogance, popularity, self- 
aggrandizement, love of wealth, or sectarian divisions, reigned to 
disturb, where the religion of Jesus was practiced in its purity, and - 
its name indicated the practice and character of its subjects. 

Their enemies acknowledge they were very zealous, that they 
(men and women) never ceased from teaching, night or day. "They 
had the Old and New Testaments," says an inquisitor, "in the vul- 
gar tongue, and they teach and learn so well that he had seen and 
heard a country clown recount a/l Job, word for word, and divers 
who could perfectly deliver all the New Testament; and that men 
and women, little and great, day and night, cease not to learn and 
teach." The contrast betwixt the established Church or Church of 
Antichrist, and the true witnesses of the Lamb, during this century, 
is very great. While the priests, elders and bishops of the former 
were wallowing in wealth and affluence, neglecting the reading of 
the Scriptures, which were able to make men wise unto salvation, 
but depending on their national power for the success of the Church, 
the latter were engaged in reading the Scriptures, fasting and pray- 
ing, relying on the oath and promise of their God for success. 
Teaching, preaching, and other religious exercises, were the only 
amusements they indulged in, when they were not laboring for their 
natural sustenance. What a spectacle! a whole people engaged in 
the service of God, without schism or division. 

We see a great coincidence in the doctrines and opinions held by 



DURING THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. 49 



these people, and Novatian, of the third century, Donatus, of the 
fourth, and Sylvanus, of the seventh; and such were Gundulphus 
Arnold, Valdo, Berengarius, Henry and Peter de Bruys. 

The system adopted and the privilege granted by the Church to 
all the members to exercise whatever gifts they might possess in 
exhorting and teaching, were very well calculated to bring to view 
all gifts that were calculated to be beneficial in the dissemination of 
truth; and the consequence was that many useful gifts sprang up 
among them, who were not only of great use at home but itinerated 
through other kingdoms, and kept the smoldering coals of truth 
alive where the beast was exercising his power, and were called by 
their enemies the wandering Anabaptists. To accelerate the prog- 
ress of their mission they carried with them a basket of wares and 
merchandize, as the peddlers do in our day, which, it is said, "often 
gained them access to persons of great respectability, when, if an 
opportunity offered, they would introduce some part of the history 
of Christ or his Apostles. Reiner, the Judas among them, gave a 
full detail of their mode of instruction and their views of the 
Catholic Church. 

Father Gretzer, who edited Reiner's works in the fifteenth cen- 
tury, affirms that this description of the Waldenses was a true pic- 
ture of the heretics of his age, particularly of the Anabaptists. 
This plan in the proceedings of these pious and benevolent people 
will remove one difficulty as to their maintaining their numbers and 
influence over almost whole provinces, when we are assured their 
enemies on every side for ages combined all their energies for their 
annihilation. This is the key to the success of' Gundulphus and 
"Valdo, who had mazy disciples. Orchard, p. 267. 

In this century was the long-to-be-remembered time when the 
Pope of Rome assumed universal power and jurisdiction over the 
Emperor. 

The reader may think that we are digressing from the true object 
of our history, but we think an allusion to some of the glaring 
usurpations of the priesthood of the Catholic Church will assist in 
accounting for the exceeding sinfulness of the man of sin. In 1073, 
Hildebrand was elected to the Pontifical chair, under the title of 
Gregory VII, and the Papacy has not produced a more extraor- 
dinary character. It was customary for the Popes, when elected by 
the people, to receive the confirmation of the Emperor. Gregory 
did not refuse to conform to the custom, but awaited the confirma- 
tion of the Emperor Henry before he entered upon the duties of his 
office. His first business, after being installed, was to excommuni- 
cate every ecclesiastic who should receive a bonefic from a layman, 
and every layman by whom such bonefic should be conferred. This 
was a blow at all the sovereigns of Europe, but more particularly 
against Henry, whom he soon drove into submission, and set the 
example that never was abandoned by the priesthood until they 
reigned at the head of Church and State. Jones' C. Hist., p. 267. 
4 



50 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



Notwithstanding our anxiety to study brevity in this narrative, 
we can not consistently pass to the twelfth century, and leave the 
history of the Church during the eleventh in Italy unnoticed. We 
find the following recorded by Mr. Orchard, p. 138: 

"From Italy/' says Mosheim, "the Paulicians sent colonies into 
almost all the other provinces of Europe, and formed gradually a 
considerable number of religious societies, who adhered to their doc- 
trine, and who realized every opposition and indignity from the 
Popes. It is undoubtedly certain, from the most authentic records, 
that a considerable number of them were, about the middle of the 
eleventh century, settled in Lombardy, Insubria, but principally in 
Milan, and that many of them led a wandering life in France, Ger- 
many, and other countries, where they captivated the esteem and 
admiration of the multitude by their sanctity. In Italy they were 
called Paterini and Cathari ; in France they were denominated Bul- 
garians, from the kingdom of their emigration; also Publicans, 
instead of Paulicians and Bonihomians, good men ; but were chiefly 
known by the term Albigenses, from the town of Albi in the Upper 
Languedoc. The first religious assembly which the Paulicians 
formed in Europe is said to have been at Orleans in the year 1017, 
on which we shall enlarge under the Churches in France, to which 
we shall repair after we have traced their Churches in Italy. 

" Here we may be permitted to review the Apostolic character and 
exertions of this extensive body of people, while we may express 
our surj>rise at the virulent opposition, the cruel measures used, and 
the extensive sacrifice of human life for successive ages, on the alone 
ground of religious views." The course pursued by this people 
bore evident marks of Apostolic spirit; 'without any funds 
or any public societies to support -the arduous undertaking, 
otherwise than the assistance of their respective churches, the Paul- 
icians, actuated by a holy zeal for the cause of their Master, Cap- 
tain and High Priest, fearlessly penetrated the most barbarous parts 
of Europe, and went single-handed to the conflict with every grade 
of character and opposition. Several of them suffered martyrdom 
rather than renounce the cause of their blessed Pedeemer. See 
Mosheim's History, Gibbon's, Robinson's, Jones', etc. 

We have already alluded to the fact of the Paulicans being called 
Paterines in Italy, and we find them alluded to by Mr. Orchard, in 
the same country, as follows : "Among these people a reformer or 
principal minister appeared, who attained some eminency. One 
Gundulphus, who appears to have had many admirers, having given 
some persons in his connection a portion of spiritual instruction, 
he sent them forth as itinerants to preach the Gospel. Some of his 
followers were arrested in Flanders, and on their examination they 
acknowledged they were followers of Gundulphus. They are 
charged, says Dr. Allix, with abhorring baptism, that is, the Catholic 
baptism. These disciples said in reply : The laws and discipline 
we have received from our master, will not appear contrary either 



DURING THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. 51 



to the Gospel decrees or Apostolical institutions, if carefully looked 
into. His discipline consists in leaving the world, in bridling carnal 
concupiscence, in providing a livelihood by the labor of our hands, 
in hurting nobody, and affording charity to all, etc. This is the 
sum of our justification, to which baptism can add nothing. 

" ' But if any say that some sacrament lies hid in baptism, the force 
of it is taken off by three causes. First, Because the reprobate life 
of ministers can afford no saving remedy to the persons baptized. 
Second, Because whatever sins are renounced at the fount, are after- 
wards taken up again in life and practice. Third, Because a strange 
will, a strange faith, and a strange confession, do not seem to belong 
to a little child, who neither wills nor runs; who knoweth nothing 
of faith, and is altogether ignorant of his own good and salvation, 
in whom there can be no desire of regeneration, and from whom 
no confession of faith can be expected/ That these people held 
views on the ordinances, similar to the Baptists of modern times, is 
allowed by all respectable writers." 

" The Paterines had, in 1040, become very numerous and conspic- 
uous at Milan, which was their principal residence, and here they 
flourished at least two hundred years. They had no connection with 
the Church or Fathers, considering them as corrupters of Chris- 
tianity. They called the cross the abomination of desolation stand- 
ing in the holy place, and they said it was the mark of the beast." 
The state did not trouble them, but the clergy, like the prophets of 
Ahab of old, preached, prayed, and no doubt cried aloud to their 
God to come clown and consume these disturbers of their craft. 
But having no legal power to use the sword, a let was realized which 
proved favorable to the sentiments and prosperity of the Paterines. 
Their churches were divided into sixteen compartments, such as the 
Baptists in our day would call associations. Each of these were 
subdivided into parts, which would now be called churches. The 
object to be accomplished in dividing themselves into so many 
compartments or associations is not stated by any historian that we 
have had access to. 

It is most probable the object was to consult and adopt measures 
for their own safety, and for the promulgation of truth, and the sup- 
ply of their brethren in all parts of the Empire, and other places if 
necessary, with proper religious instruction and the preaching of the 
Gospel. Their bishops and officers were mechanics, weavers, shoe- 
makers, and other trades, who maintained themselves by th'eir own 
industry. The members of churches composing these associations 
were computed at more than one thousand five hundred. During the 
kingdom of the Goths and Lombards, the Anabaptists, as the Catholics 
called them, had their share of churches and baptisteries, during which 
time they held no communion with any hierarchy. Under the 
reign of the Goths, which lasted 114 years, these people enjoyed 
peace. But after these kingdoms were overthrown, the Emperors 
took measures to deprive dissenters of their baptismal churches and 



52 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



to secure them to the Catholic clergy, consequently, the brethren 
worshiped in private houses under different names. Eeach of those 
houses where they met were occupied by one of their brethren; they 
were marked so as to be known only by themselves, and they never 
met in large companies in persecuting times. There were many 
Greeks from Bulgaria and Pliilippopolis, who came to settle in Italy 
about the time that the Emperor Alexias commenced disturbing the 
Philippopolitanes, and burnt Basil the Bogomilan or Paulician. 
The word Bogomilus means, in the Russian language, "calling out 
for mercy from above." A Bogomilan was a praying man. Mosh- 
eim says, " It is difficult to fix the precise period of time when the 
Paulicians began to take refuge in Europe." But it is asserted that 
a set of men, like to the Paulicians or Paterines, proceeded in vast 
numbers out of Italy in the following ages, and spread like an inun- 
dation through all Europe. 



TWELFTH CENTURY. 

We now commence the history of the twelfth century with the 
churches in Italy. In 1137, a reformer appeared who proved him- 
self a powerful opponent to the Church of Rome, and who in forti- 
tude and zeal was inferior to none bearing that name, while in 
learning and talents he excelled most. This was Arnold of Brescia, 
a man allowed to have been possessed of extensive erudition and 
remarkable for his austerity of manners. He assumed the habit of 
a monk, began to propagate his opinions in the streets of Brescia, 
where he soon gained attention. He pointed his zeal at the wealth 
and luxury of the Roman clergy. His eloquence aroused the inhab- 
itants of Brescia. They revered him as the apostle of religious 
liberty, and rose in rebellion against the bishops. The party in 
power took an alarm at his bold attacks and success; and in a coun- 
cil, 1139, he was condemned to perpetual silence. Arnold left Italy, 
and found an asylum in the Swiss Canton of Zurich. Here he 
began his system of reform, and succeeded for a time, but the influ- 
ence of Bernard made it necessary for him to leave the Canton. 
Orchard. says : "This bold man now hazarded the desperate experi- 
ment of visiting Rome, and fixing the standard of rebellion in the 
very heart of the capital. In this measure he succeeded so far as to 
occasion a change in the government, and the clergy experienced for 
ten years a reverse of fortune and a succession of insults from the 
people. The Pontiff struggled hard, but in vain, to maintain his 
ascendancy, and at length sunk under the calamity. Successive 
Pontiffs were unable to check his popularity. Eugenius III with- 
drew from Rome, and Arnold taking advantage of his absence, im- 



DURING THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 53 



pressed on the minds of the people the necessity of setting bounds 
to clerical authority; but the people, not being prepared for such 
liberty, carried their measures to the extreme, abused the clergy, 
burnt their property, and required all ecclesiastics to swear to the 
new constitution. "Arnold," says Gibbon, "presumed to quote the 
declaration of Christ, that his kingdom was not of this world. The 
abbots, the bishops, the Pope himself, must renounce their state or 
their salvation. The people imbibed and long retained the color of 
his opinions. His sentiments also were influential on some of the 
clergy in the Catholic Church. He was not devoid of discretion; 
he was protected by the nobles and the people, and his services to 
the cause of freedom; his eloquence thundered over the seven hills. 
He showed how strangely the clergy in vice had degenerated from 
the primitive times of the Church. He compared the shepherd to 
the spiritual government of his flock. It is from the year 1144 that 
the establishment of the Senate is dated as a glorious era in the acts 
of the city. Arnold maintained his station above ten years, while 
two Popes either trembled in the Vatican or wandered as exiles iD 
the adjacent cities. The wound appeared unto death, but the Pope 
having mustered his troops, and placing himself at their head, soon 
became possessed of his official dignity. Arnold's friends were 
numerous, but a sword was no weapon in the articles of his faith." 
In 1155, this noble champion was seized, crucified and burnt. His 
ashes were thrown into the rivers. With his ashes his sect was dis- 
persed ; his memory still lives in the minds of the Romans — thus 
the deadly wound was healed. Though no corporeal relic could be 
preserved to animate his followers, yet the efforts of Arnold in civil 
and religious liberty were cherished in the breasts of future reform- 
ing spirits, and inspired those mighty attempts in Wickliffe, Huss, 
and others. Orchard, p. 157. 

The disciples of Arnold were very numerous, and obtained the 
name of Arnoldites;. and long continued to bear testimony against 
the corruptions of the Catholic Church. It seems the followers of 
Arnold continued for succeeding ages, and showed forth the same 
zeal for the cause of truth that their leader had done. In closing 
the narrative of this great man, we will just say that many histo- 
rians affirm that Arnold opposed the Catholic view of the Eucharist 
and the baptism of infants, and the usurpation and the corruption 
of the clergy. 

We quote again from Orchard, p 154: It is acknowledged that 
the Latin Church was, during this century, troubled with the Puri- 
tans, a term, according to Mosheim, expressive of the successors of 
the Novatianists ; but the Pontiffs were particularly annoyed by the 
Paulicians, who emigrated in numbers from Bulgaria, who, leaving 
their native land, spread themselves throughout various provinces. 
Many of them, while doing good to others and propagating the 
gospel, were put to death with the most unrelenting cruelty. Their 
accessions from different sources made the Puritan or Paterine 



54 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



Churches very considerable, and to their enemies very formidable, 
even before the name of Waldo of Lyons was known. Besides 
these foreign accessions, some books had been written and circulated 
by the Puritans, while several reformers appeared in different king- 
doms, all advocating the same doctrines and practice, so that the 
clergy and Pontiff were aroused to vigorous opposition. In 1180, 
the Puritans had established themselves in Lombardy and Puglai, 
where they received frequent visits from their brethren who resided 
in other countries; in this and the next century they were to be 
found in the capital of Christendom. 

Effective measures were matured about this time, when Waldo 
and his followers were driven from France. About the year 1110, 
in south of France, in the Provinces of Languedoc, and Provence, 
appeared Peter De Bruys, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of 
God, and exerting the most laudable efforts to reform abuses, and 
remove the superstitions which so awfully disfigured the beauti- 
ful simplicity of the gospel worship. His labors in the good cause, 
we are told were crowned with great success. He was under the 
protection and favor of a nobleman, named Hildephonscs. He is said 
to have been a priest of Toulouse ; but after his conversion and union 
with the Albigenses, he became one of their chief ministers. And 
while he was engaged in drawing the attention of the people to the 
corruptions of Popery, the Catholics were busily engaged in erecting 
temples for worship, and the rich were spending their wealth in 
adorning them. The ignorant were performing the services allotted 
to beasts of burden. Each expecting from his labors and gifts, 
a reward of Paradise. (What a similarity this, to the workmongers 
of our day !) But the Albigenses preached that gold was not the 
means of building, but rather of destroying the Church. 

The religious sentiments of Peter De Bruys are not fully known ; 
but the following particulars are handed down to us by historians; 
he maintained that the ordinance of baptism was to be administered 
only to adults; that it was an idle superstition to build and dedicate 
Churches to the service of God, who, in worship has a peculiar 
respect to the state of the heart, and who can not be worshiped witli 
temples made with hands; that crucifixes were objects of supersti- 
tion and ought to be destroyed ; that in the Lord's -Supper, the real 
body and blood of Christ, were not partaken by the communicants, 
but only represented by way of symbol or figure; and that the 
oblations, prayers, and good works of the living, can in no way be 
beneficial to the dead. He also held that persons baptized in 
infancy, are to be baptized after they believe; which is not to be 
considered re-bapt 'nation, but right baptism. His followers were 
called Petrobrussians, and were very numerous in France and the 
Netherlands. This gospel preacher shared the same fate of other 
servants of God under persecution ; he must fly his country or suf- 
fer death. He chose the former, because his work was not done. 
"When he was expelled from Dauphine, other provinces and king- 



DURING THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 55 



doms shared in his itinerant labors. His doctrines were readily- 
received among the mountaineers ( Vaudois,) the villagers, and they 
found numerous advocates among the country people, and in popu- 
lous towns and cities, particularly about Toulouse. He influenced 
great numbers to leave the Romish Church. The people were 
re-baptized ; the altars dug up ; of their sacred wooden crosses 
the Petrobrussians made a fire, and roasted their meat on Good 
Friday, in defiance of the fast ; priests were scourged, monks 
imprisoned, etc. While it is allowed that the purity of their 
morals, and scriptural simplicity of their doctrine, found friends 
among the clergy and laity, the doctrines taught by Peter De 
Bruys, seem to be substantially the same as held by the Albi- 
genses ; who were very numerous in the countries where he labored, 
consequently the Catholics classed them all together, as their com- 
mon enemy, and from thence they were called Petrobrussians. 

The Petrobrussians, to justify themselves from the calumnies of 
Peter of Clugney, and others, sent forth a work in answer to the 
question, "What is Antichrist?" It is generally supposed to be 
the work of Peter De Bruys, and is said to have been written as early 
as 1120. It bears internal evidence of having been composed for 
the purpose of vindicating the writer and his friends in their 
separation from the Church of Rome. In reference to the ordi- 
nance, it declares, "A third work of Antichrist consists in this, that 
he attributes the generation of their Holy Spirit, to the mere exter- 
nal rite, baptizing infants in that faith, teaching that thereby regen- 
eration is obtained, which is contrary to the mind of the Holy 
Ghost. Jones' Lect. v. 2, p. 262. This view was supported by a 
confession of faith, in fourteen articles, published about the same 
time. In this confession, the Apostles' creed, they believed in the, 
Trinity ; scriptural character of Adam, and his fall ; work of Christ 
as mediator; abhorrence of human inventions in worship; that the 
sacraments were signs of holy things and that believers should use 
the symbols or forms when it can be done; though they can be 
saved without them ; they owned two sacraments, Baptism and the 
Lord's Supper ; and acknowledge their obedience to secular powers. 
History of the Church, by W. Jones, v. 2, p. 53. 

Peter De Bruys continued his labors for twenty years, when he 
was called to seal his testimony with his blood. He was com- 
mitted to the flames at St. Giles, a city of Languedoc, in France, 
by an enraged populace, instigated by the clergy of the Catholic 
Church, who no doubt considered their craft to be in danger. A 
few years after the martyrdom of Bruys, rose up an Italian by birth, 
of the name of Henry, said to have been his disciple, and who was 
the founder of a new sect called the Henricians. He had been both 
a monk and a hermit, but having received the knowledge of the 
truth, he labored to reform the superstition of the times. His per- 
secutors caused him to fly from one country to another, preaching 
the gospel wherever he went, with great acceptance, and declaiming 



56 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



with great zeal and fervor against the corruptions of the Church 
and clergy of Rome. About this time, one Arnold made his appear- 
ance as a reformer, and made a powerful opponent to the party in 
power. He proved to be a terror to both Emperors and Priests ; 
he awakened the people to the usurpations of the clergy, and called 
upon them to rise in opposition to their encroachment He was per- 
secuted with all the zeal a corrupt priesthood could invent. In 
1139, he was condemned by a general council of the Lateran, headed 
by Innocent II, to perpetual silence. He sought for shelter in the 
Canton of Zurich. He still retained his reforming zeal, and had 
the ability to seduce from their allegiance the Bishop of Constance, 
and even the Pope's Legate. He was finally driven by persecution 
to hazard the desperate expedient of fixing the standard of rebellion 
in the very heart of Rome. He soon excited a rebellion there, 
which, in the end, led to some reformation in ecclesiastical affairs. 
Saint Bernard, with all his popularity and zeal for the cause of the 
Church, was troubled to overcome the efforts of this reformer and 
that of Henry. In a letter addressed to the Count of St. Giles, 
Bernard thus describes the state of affairs: "How great are the 
evils which we have heard and known to be done by Henry, the 
heretic, and what he is every day doing in the Church of God! He 
wanders up and down in your country in sheep's clothing, being a 
ravenous wolf, but according to a hint given by our Lord, we know 
him by his fruits. The Churches are without people, the people 
without priests, priests without reverence, and, lastly, Christians 
without Christ. The life of Christ is denied to infants, by refusing 
them the grant of baptism; nor are they suffered to draw near unto 
salvation, though our Savior tenderly cried out on their behalf, 
suffer, etc. O, most unhappy people! at the voice of an heretic, all 
the voices of the Prophets and Apostles are silenced, who, from one 
spirit of trHth have declared that the Church is to be called by the 
faith of Christ, out of all nations of the world; so that the divine 
oracles have dee< ived us." 

All these reformers with their followers, as well as those of former 
centuries, held and preached Baptist sentiments as a general thing, 
and they had become so numerous, that it is said in 1100 they num- 
bered eight hundred thousand in profession. Bap. Mag., vol. 1, p. 
4-35. Wall's Hist., pt. 2, p. 228. 

These people formed in different parts vast numbers of religious 
assemblies, whose discipline and offices were the same that is found 
in the primitive Churches, and adhered tenaciously to their doctrines. 

Whilst anarchy and confusion awfully prevailed in the Roman 
community — strife, rebellion, and conflict between Popes and Em- 
perors, cardinals and clergy, and councils, on the claims of contend- 
ing Pontiffs — a person was called by Divine grace to advocate the 
cause of truth. Peter, an opulent merchant of Lyons, in translat- 
ing from Latin into French the four Gospels, perceived that the 
religion which was taught in the Roman Church differed totally 



DURING THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 57 



from that which was originally inculcated by Christ and his Apos- 
tles, struck with the glaring difference, and animated with a pious 
zeal for religion, he abandoned his mercantile vocation, distributed 
his riches among the poor, and formed an association with other 
pious men. He adopted the sentiments of the Waldenses of Pied- 
mont, and from them borrowed those reforming notions which he 
diffused so successfully over the continent. In 1165 he assumed the 
character of a public teacher in the city of Lyons. He maintained, 
at his own expense, several persons who were employed to recite 
and expound to the people those translations of the Scriptures he 
had made, which proved of unspeakable service to the cause he 
espoused. The rules adopted by Peter of Lyons or Peter Waldo 
and his followers, were extremely severe. They took for their model 
to regulate their moral discipline, Christ's sermon on the mount, 
which they interpreted and explained in the most rigid manner, and 
consequently prohibited war, law-suits, and all attempts toward the 
acquisition of wealth, the infliction of capital punishment, self-de- 
fence against unjust violence, and oaths of all kinds. Mosheim, vol. 
2, p. 322. The followers of Waldo, like himself, renounced all 
worldly property and interest, making common stock with the poor 
of the Church. From this circumstance their enemies termed them 
the Poor of Lyons, and from the city where Waldo commenced his 
labors, they were named Leonists, but in general they were mixed 
up with the Waldenses, their sentiments being the same, and were 
known in general by that name. They are said to be men of irre- 
proachable lives. They were the salt of the earth. Their views of 
the ordinance of baptism were, says Reiner, " that the washing 
(immersion) given to children does no good." 

, Dissenters were called by various names, as the Poor of Lyons, 
Lyonists, Paterines, Puritans, Amoldistes, Petrobrussians, Albigenses, 
Waldenses, etc., etc., all of which were expressive of the same class 
of Christians. Ailix Pied., c. 14, pp. 128, 8. Mezeray says they 
held almost the same opinions as those we call Calvinists. Deacons 
expounded the Scriptures, distributed the Lord's supper, baptized, 
and sometimes had the oversight of churches, visited the sick, and 
took care of the temporalities of the Church. The Albigenses, 
whose religious views had been long and well established, received 
Waldo as soon as he appeared in public and supported his doctrine. 
We here insert a very graphic account given by Mr. Orchard's Church 
History, pages 192, 193, 194, 195. He says : " The Archbishop of 
Lyons, with other rulers of the Church in that province where the 
new reformer arose, opposed with vigor this new doctrine in Waldo's 
ministry, but their opposition was unsuccessful ; for the purity and 
simplicity of that religion which these Lyonists taught, the spotless 
innocence that shone forth in their lives and actions, and the noble 
contempt of riches, which formed a complete contrast with other 
teachers, appeared so engaging to all such as had any sense of true 
piety, that the number of their disciples and followers increased from 



58 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



day to day. In reference to the character of this class, Jacob de 
Reberia, Secretary of the King of France, has these words in his 
Collections of Toulouse: 'The Waldenses or Lugdensos lived first 
in the diocese of Albi. They disputed more subtlely than all others; 
were afterwards admitted by the priests to teach publicly, not for 
that they approved their doctrine, but because they were not com- 
parable to them in wit. In so great honor was the sect of these 
men that they were both exempted from charges and impositions 
(taxes,) and obtained more benefit by will and testaments of the dead 
than the priests. A man would not hurt his enemy if he should 
meet him upon the way accompanied by one of the heretics, inso- 
much that the safety of all men seemed to consist in their protection.' 
Deniver's Hist., p. 20. Reiner, in the ensuing century, bears the 
following testimony : ' They were in manners composed and modest, 
no pride of apparel, because they are therein neither costly nor sor- 
did. They transact their business without lying, fraud or sneering, 
living most upon handicraft trades; yea, their doctors or teachers 
are weavers or shoemakers, who do not multiply riches, but content 
themselves with necessary things. These Lyonists are very chaste 
and temperate in both meats and drink, who neither visit taverns 
nor stews. They do much curb their passions; they are always 
cither working, teaching or learning. They are very frequently in 
their assemblies and worship, etc. They are very modest and precise 
in their words, avoiding scurrility, detraction, levity and falsehood. 
Neither will they say so much as verily, truly, nor such like, as bor- 
dering too much on swearing, as they conceive ; but they usually 
say, yea and nay.' Deniver's Hist., p. 21. 

" The Pontiff, on being made acquainted with the Lyonist proceed- 
ings, and the inadequacy of his clergy's opposition, anathematized 
Waldo and his followers. The severity of those measures adopted 
by his enemies compelled him to retire. Leaving Lyons, he passed 
through different provinces, preaching the word with great accept- 
ance. His kindness to the poor being diffused, his love of teaching, 
the love of many to learn, awakened mutual solicitude and devo- 
tion, and strengthened each other's anxiety and exertion from day 
to day, so that a crowd came about him in every place, to whom he 
explained the Scriptures, which his learning and study enabled him 
profitably to do. 

" On being forced from France, particularly from Dauphine and 
Picady, in which places Waldo had been very successful, he first 
retired into Germany, with many of his followers, who were called 
Picards, carrying along with him, wherever he went, the glad tidings 
of salvation ; and at last settled in Bohemia, where he arrived safely, 
and where we shall mention again his name and concluding labors. 
In 1181 Lucius III issued a decree stating — ' We declare all Purit- 
ans, Paterines, Poor of Lyons, etc., etc., to lie under a perpetual 
curse for teaching baptism and the Lord's supper otherwise than 
the Church of Rome.' In furtherance of the Pope's object, Philip 



DURING THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 59 



II, of France, is said to have razed three hundred mansions, and 
destroyed several walled towns, to stop the growth of these reform- 
ing opinions. 

"Numbers of Waldo's followers fled for an asylum into the valleys 
of Piedmont, taking with them the new translation of the Bible. 
Others removed into Germany, while some of his opinions are to be 
traced into Flanders, Poland, Spain, Calabria, and even into the 
dominions of the Grand Sultan ; consequently, it was found that 
Waldo and his followers had, in a few years, drawn multitudes from 
the bosom of a corrupt church, and their doctrines made a great 
noise in the world." 

We now pass into the country of the Bohemians. We find the 
Baptists in these parts were favored by many persons of high rank 
and respectability, among whom was Lady Boskoviez, who became 
patroness to those people called heretics, and settled them on the 
family estate. Another family, patrons and friends of the Baptists, 
was the very ancient and noble house of Slavata. This family 
descended from the Dukes of Saltz, Lords of the District, where 
some of the first French refugees for religion first settled. Lord 
William, was chancellor of the kingdom of Bohemia. This gentle- 
man was educated in one of the Baptist schools until twenty 
years of age. Many great families protected and employed the 
Baptists, because their upright walk and conduct produced confi- 
dence in them and faith in their religion. When Waldo sought an 
asylum in Bohemia from the Pope's measures, it is certain that 
darkness and superstition pervaded the minds of the community 
belonging to the party in power. Waldo found the inhabitants 
tenacious of the rites and ceremonies of the Greek Church, which 
rites were nearly as superstitious as those of the Church of Rome. 
In this kingdom the pious reformers and evangelists obtained per- 
mission to settle at Galtz and Lan, on the river Eger, just on the 
borders of the kingdom, and near one hundred miles from Prague. A 
description of this people is to be found in the Bohemian records, which 
is satisfactory as to their denominational aspect. With these and 
later Puritans, it was customary to settle on the borders of king- 
doms, so that in case of surprise they might be able by little exer- 
tion, to move themselves out of one kingdom into another. Almost 
two centuries after, another undoubted record of the same country 
mentions a people of the same description, some of whom were 
burnt at Prague, and others still inhabited the borders of the coun- 
try ; and one hundred and fifty years later we find a people of the 
same class settled by connivance in the metropolis and in several 
othe* parts of the kingdom. Other testimonies prove their exist- 
ence to a later date, so that after the twelfth century documents are 
extant proving the existence of Baptists in Bohemia and Poland. 
Rob. Res., pp. 480, 527. Waldo's labors in Bohemia were crowned 
with remarkable success. He spent his concluding years in this 
kingdom, promoting the cause of his master in every commendable 



60 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



way until 1179, when he finished his course and was called home to 
receive his reward and a crown that fadeth not away. 

We now turn our attention to the valleys of Piedmont, and notice 
the progress and trials of the faithful in Christ Jesus during the 
twelfth century. The centuriators of Magdeburgh, under the 
twelfth century, recite from an old manuscript the outlines of the 
Waldensian creed, as follows: "In articles of faith the authority of 
the Scripture is the highest authority, and for that reason it is the 
standard of judging, so that whatever doth not agree with the word 
of God is deservedly to be rejected and avoided. The sacraments of 
the Church of Christ are two — baptism and the Lord's supper. 

" That is the Church of Christ, which bears the pure doctrine of 
Christ, and observes the ordinances instituted by Him, in whatsoever 
place it exists." 

Mr. Jones, in his History of the Church, has given three different 
confessions of faith, drawn up and put forth by the Waldenses them- 
selves, two of which were in the twelfth century, and the third in 
the sixteenth century. We here insert one entire, and a few articles 
from the other, of the twelfth century : 

1. We believe and firmly maintain all that is contained in the 
twelve articles of the symbol, commonly called the Apostle's creed, 
and we regard as heretical whatsoever is inconsistent with the said 
twelve articles. 

2. We believe that there is one God — the Father, Son and Holy 
Spirit. 

3. We acknowledge for sacred canonical Scriptures the books of the 
Holy Bible. [Here follows the title of each, exactly conformable 
to our received canons, but which it is deemed, on that account, 
quite unnecessary to particularize.] 

4. The books above mentioned teach us that there is one God, 
almighty, unbounded in wisdom, and infinite in goodness, and who, 
in His goodness has made all things. For He created Adam after 
His own image and likeness. But through the enmity of the devil 
and his own disobedience, Adam fell, sin entered into the world, and 
we became transgressors in and by Adam. 

5. That Christ had been promised to the fathers who had received 
the law, to the end that, knowing their sin by the law, and their 
unrighteousness and insufficiency, they might desire the coming of 
Christ to make satisfaction for their sins, and to accomplish the law 
by himself. 

6. That at the time appointed by the Father, Christ was born — 
a time when iniquity everywhere abounded, to make it manifest 
that it was not for the sake of any good in ourselves, for all were 
sinners, but that He who is true might display his grace and mercy 
upon us. 

7. That Christ is our life, and truth, and peace and righteousness 
— our shepherd and advocate, our sacrifice and priest, who died for 



DURING THE TWELFTH CENTURY. 61 



the salvation of all who should believe, and rose again for their 
justification. 

8. And we also firmly believe that there is no other advocate with 
God the Father, but Jesus Christ ; and, as to the Virgin Mary, she 
Was holy, humble, and full of grace ; and this we also believe con- 
cerning all other saints, namely, that they are waiting in Heaven 
for the resurrection of their bodies at the day of judgment. 

9. We also believe that after this life there are but two places — 
one for those that are saved, the other for the damned — which two 
we call paradise and hell, wholly denying that imaginary purgatory 
of Antichrist invented in opposition to the truth. 

10. Moreover, we have ever regarded the inventions of men (in 
the affairs of religion) as an unspeakable abomination before God; 
such as the festivals, days and vigils of saints, and what is called 
holy water, the abstaining from flesh on certain days, and such like 
things, but above all, the masses. 

11. We hold in abhorrence all human inventions, as proceeding 
from Antichrist, which produce distress and are prejudicial to the 
liberty of the mind. 

12. We consider the sacraments as signs of holy things, or as the 
visible emblems of invisible blessings. We regard it as proper 
and even necessary that believers use these symbols or visible forms 
when it can be done. Notwithstanding which, we maintain that 
believers may be saved without these signs, when they have neither 
place nor opportunity of observing them. 

13. We acknowledge no sacraments (as of Divine appointment) 
but baptism and the Lord's supper. 

14. We honor' the secular powers, with subjection, obedience, 
promptitude and payment. 

This ends the first abstract or confession of faith. We here insert 
several items from the second abstract, the substance of which is not 
contained in the first : 

The invoking and worshiping of dead saints is idolatry. 

The Church of Rome is the Whore of Babylon. 

We must not obey the Pope and Bishops, because they are the 
wolves of the Church of Christ. 

The Pope hath not the primacy over all the churches of Christ; 
neither hath he the power of both swords. That is the Church of 
Christ which hears the pure doctrine of Christ, and observes the 
ordinances instituted by Him, in whatsoever place it exists. 

Vows of celibacy are the inventions of men, and are productive 
of uncleanness. 

So many orders of the clergy — so many marks of the beast; 
monkery is a filthy carcass. 

So many superstitious dedications of churches, commemorations 
of the dead, benedictions of creatures, pilgrimages, so many forced 
fastings, so many superfluous festivals, those perpetual bello wings 
(alluding to the practice of chanting,) and the observations of 



62 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



various other ceremonies manifestly obstructing the teaching and 
learning of the word, are diabolical inventions. 

We find, during this century, as in former centuries, many of the 
reformers from the various provinces making their way into these 
valleys, where they have found some respite from the persecutions 
of their enemies, and notwithstanding the emperors and pontiffs 
that were in power over this valley were very rigid in the measures 
of the Catholic Church, yet they were not entirely lost to the prin- 
ciples of humanity. The spotless innocency of those Puritans, and 
their loyalty to their rulers, engaged many persons of note and high 
standing in their favor, and caused their rulers to be very slow in 
executing the cruel edicts of the clergy against them. All things 
seemed to be combined for the fulfillment of God's purpose in pre- 
serving his faithful witnesses of the truth. And while large acces- 
sions of the reformers were making to these valleys, other reformers 
were rising in different parts of the civilized world, protesting 
against the corruptions and usurpations of the clergy, and the apos- 
tacy of the Church, which seemed to awaken thousands of the people 
to a sense of their depressed condition, many of whom were aroused 
and stimulated to an avowal of their opposition to the corruptions of 
the Catholic Church. Large portions again, who Mere equally con- 
vinced of those corruptions remained neutral, fearing the persecu- 
tions of the party in power. In this we see the hand of omnipo- 
tent power preparing the way for the overthrow of the power of 
Antichrist, the progress of which we shall notice hereafter. 



THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 

Before we proceed with our narrative of the Church in the thir- 
teenth century, we deem it expedient to give a brief history of the 
establishment and progress of that monstrous system of cruelty and 
oppression generally called by the Catholics "the Holy Office," 
though better known among Protestants by the name of Inqui- 
sition. 

" It was not until about the year 1200," says Mr. Jones, that "the 
Papal Chair being filled by Innocent III, that the terms inquisition 
into heresy, and inquisitor, were much, if at all, heard of. The 
The bishops and the vicars being, in the Pope's apprehension, 
neither so fit nor so diligent in the discharge of their duty respect- 
ing the extirpation of heresy as he thought necessary, two new 
orders of regulars were at this time instituted, viz.: those of St. 
Dominic and St. Francis, both zealously devoted to the Church and 
consisting of persons with whom the advancement of Christianity 
and the exaltation of the pontifical power were always synonymous 



DURING THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 63 



terms." At first, those inquisitors went forth under the garb or 
mission of preaching to the heretics to convince them by arguments 
of their error, and at the same time clothed with authority to perse- 
cute, in every possible way, for the extirpation of the refractory ; 
that is, all who were so unreasonable as not to be convinced by the 
profound reasoning of those merciless wolves in sheep's clothing. 

The honor of devising this plan to extirpate heresy is ascribed by 
Catholic writers to Dominic himself. He is said to have descended 
from an illustrious Spanish family of the name of Gusmon, was the 
son of Felix and Joanna, and born at the village of Cabaraga, in 
the year 1170, in the diocese of Osma. His mother, during her 
pregnancy, is said to have dreamed that she was with child of a pup, 
carrying in its mouth a lighted torch ; that, after its birth, it put 
the world in an uproar by its fierce barkings, and at length set it on 
fire by the torch which it carried in its mouth. 

We leave this circumstance for the reader to interpret for himself. 
It is said he was educated for the priesthood, and grew up the most 
fiery and the most sanguinary of mortals. This office was estab- 
lished in a manner so as to be independent of every human being 
except the Pope, for the express purpose of ensnaring and destroying 
Christians. In this thirteenth century, as well as in former centu- 
ries, and down to the present century, the true witnesses and fol- 
lowers of Christ were and are of the poor classes, while the rich and 
opulent (most of them) are found connected with those systems of 
religion which are engaged in building up the power of Antichrist, 
whose great object has ever been to work their way to heaven, with- 
out being deprived of anything that the carnal mind may desire in 
this world. 

Here we see in the thirteenth century another instance where God 
made use of the wicked to alleviate the distresses of his children. 
At the time this inquisitorial office was formed, all efforts of the 
clergy to put down heresy had failed, for the reason that those quiet, 
upright and unassuming heretics, as they were called, had become 
tenants under the lords of the soil, and they would not suffer those 
cruel edicts to be executed and their tenants butchered under any 
such vain pretenses. In Biscay the priesthood was at a very low ebb 
in the eleventh century, and the clergy complained to the King of 
Navarre that the nobility and gentry treated them very little better 
than their slaves. Nearly a century after that time, in a neighbor- 
ing State, when the renowned St. Bernard began, in a sermon to a 
crowded auditory, to inveigh against heresy, the nobility and gentry 
all rose up and left the Church, and the people followed them. The 
preacher came down and followed them to the market place, where 
he attempted to harangue on the same subject, but the populace, 
wiser than the priest, refused to hear him, and raised such a clamor 
as drowned his voice and compelled him to desist. But the inquisi- 
torial office, in the person of Dominic, in 1215, broke over every 
barrier and covered Toulouse with a tide of despotism stained with 



64 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



human blood. The farther acts of this leader of the man of sin, 
and his successors, will be noticed farther, as they mingle with the 
progress of the history of the people we are delineating. 

In 1210, the Paterines had become so numerous and so odious to 
the stale clergy, that the old Bishop of Ferrara obtained an edict of 
the Emperor Otho IV for the suppression of them, but this measure 
extended only to the city. In five years after, Pope Innocent III, 
of bloody celebrity, held a council at the Lateran, and denounced 
anathemas against heretics of every description. Dr. Wall declares 
that this council did enforce infant baptism on the dissenters, as 
heretics taught it was to no purpose to baptize children. In this 
council the Milanese were censured for sheltering the Paterines. 
After a variety of efforts to suppress them, the cruel policy of the 
Court of Home extended its cruel measures over Italy. In 1220, 
Honorius III procured an edict of Frederick II which extended 
over all the imperial cities, as had been the case for some years over 
the south of France, and the effects of the Pontiff's anger was soon 
felt by the deniers of the infant rite. No alternative of escaping 
those human monsters presented itself but that of flight, which was 
embraced by many. Mosheim observes: "They passed out of Italy, 
and spread like an inundation throughout the European provinces, 
but Germany in particular afforded an asylum, where they were 
called Gazari, instead of Cathari (Puritans). One Ivo, of Narbonne,' 
was summoned by the inquisitor of heretical pravity to give an 
account of his course as an heretic. Ivo fled into Italy. At Como 
he became acquainted with the Paterines, and finding a coincidence 
in their views, he identified himself with them by becoming a mem- 
ber with them. 

They soon informed him that they had Churches in almost all the 
towns in Lombard} - , and in some towns in Tuscany; that their mer- 
chants, in frequenting fairs and markets, made it their business to 
instill their tenets into the minds of the rich laymen with whom 
they traded, and the landlords with whom they lodged. On leaving 
Como, he was furnished with letters of recommendation to profes- 
sors of the same faith in Milan, and in this manner he passed 
through all the towns situated on the Po, through Cremona and the 
Venetian States, being liberally entertained by the Paterines, who 
received him as a brother, on producing his letters and giving the 
signs which were known by all that belonged to the sect. The thir- 
teenth century exhibited in Italy two objects that struck devout 
observers: the one was the simple manners of the Paterines, which 
appeared to great advantage in contrast with the lives of their 
neighbors; the other was the predictions of Joachim, Abbot of 
Monastery, foretelling a reformation of the whole Catholic Church. 
The simplicity was seen in its native form in their separate commu- 
nities. The cruel measures pursued by the Inquisition against the 
Paterines failed to accomplish the object desired, for while some 
might have been driven to silence, and others from the State, yet 



DURING THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 65 



their numbers were fully supplied from the refugees who escaped 
the crusaders in Languedoc. The effects of the Inquisition, though 
severe, were not so great on the Paterines as the Pope desired, and 
therefore he obtained, in the beginning of Frederick's reign, 1224, 
a cruel decree denouncing all Puritans, Paterines, Arnoldites, etc., 
etc., expressed in these terms: " We shall not suffer these wretches 
to live." A second, third and fourth followed, all of the same cruel 
and virulent character. The edicts declared that all those Paterines 
to whom the bishops were disposed to show favor, were to have their 
tongues pulled out, that they might not corrupt others by justifying 
themselves. Jones' Lect., v. 2, p. 397. Others were to be commit- 
ted to the flames. These measures were cordially approved by the 
Pope, who, to give the imperial edicts the desired effect, accompa- 
nied them with his bull. 

The above measures, though severe and continued in force for 
years, did not extirpate the Paterines, as we find in the middle of 
this century, "they had," says Reiner, "four thousand members in 
the perfect class, but those called disciples were an innumerable mul- 
titude;" and notwithstanding the persecutions to which they were 
exposed, they maintained their numbers in Italy and kept up a 
regular correspondence with their brethren in other countries. 
They had public schools where their sons were educated, and these 
were supported by contributions from Churches of the same faith in 
Bohemia and Poland. Their prosperity irritated the Pontiff, who, 
on Frederick's death, 1250, and during an interregnum, resolved on 
extirpating heresy. The usual methods were attempted, preaching 
and mustering Crusaders, but after every effort for their destruction 
they appeared no less in numbers and still formidable to their 
adversaries. It was found in the middle of this century that the 
Paterines had considerably increased, so that his Holiness found it 
necessary to give full powers to his inquisitors, and to erect a stand- 
ing tribunal, if possible, in every country where Puritans were 
known to infest. The terror of the inquisitors awed the Italians 
into silence, but it is believed that the Paterines. did continue 
dispersed in Italy till the reformation in Germany. It is very- 
probable that many of these people became incorporated with the 
Waldenses in the valleys of Piedmont, wdiieh, at this period, 
enjoyed, under the Dukes of Savoy, the privileges of religious 
liberty. This incorporation is not unreasonable, since it is proved, 
by Dr. Allix and others, that the Paterines held mostly the same 
opinions of the Churches in the valleys. The straightened circum- 
stances of the Vaudois in Pragela suggested the propriety of seeking 
for a new territory ; this they obtained on their own terms of liberty 
in Calabria, a district in the northeast of Italy. 'This new settlement 
prospered, and their religious peculiarities awakened displeasure in 
the old inhabitants, but the landlords were pleased with their indus- 
try and afforded them protection. This colony received fresh acces- 
sions, from time to time, from those who fled from the persecutions 
5 



66 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



raised against them in other countries, and continued to flourish 
when the Reformation dawned on Italy, after which they were bar- 
barously murdered. 

These facts allow us to conclude that Italy must have, in parts, 
enjoyed the lamp of truth from Apostolic days. That the Cathari 
or Puritan Churches continued for ages is acknowledged, of the 
views of which we have spoken. Such Churches were strengthened 
by the Baptists from Bulgaria, whose sameness of views admitted 
their incorporation. They owned the Scriptures as the only rule of 
Christian faith and practice, and administered the ordinance of bap- 
tism to believers by one immersion. They maintained Church dis- 
cipline even on their ministers, as examples are recorded. They 
were always found on the side of religious liberty, and considered 
oppressing clergy, the locust which darkened the air and the sky and 
tormented the world. They were persecuted, dispersed and des- 
troyed. The Dominican friars, in these times, made havoc of the 
saints both in Italy and in France, and \\h m one stratagem failed 
they resorted to another — the Pope standing ready to ratify each 
new design and invention to overthrow and exterminate heresy. 
But the spirit of reform had been kindled in the minds of the 
people, and when they were driven from one country to another 
they preached reform wherever they went. 

Having noticed the progress of the Church of Christ in Italy 
during the thirteenth century, we now turn our attention to France, 
where the witnesses for the truth were very numerous, and their 
sufferings and persecutions were beyond description in this century. 
The limited design of this work will only admit of us giving a few 
of the prominent features of these people. In 1200, the city of 
Toulouse, and eighteen other principal towns — Langucdoc, Provence 
and Dauphine — were filled with Waldenses and Albigenses. This 
was owing, under a kind Providence, to the favor shown them by 
the lords, barons, viscounts, and others of the French nobility. 
Their numbers and importance had awakened the jealousy of the 
Pope, who now felt additionally angry at the protection given to 
those people. To those bulls and anathemas commonly issued by 
the Pope, and the exertions of the legates to excite the clergy to 
duty and the inhabitants to revenge the Pope's cause, much import- 
ance was attached, but the desired effect of the commission was not 
so extensively realized. Reiner, the Monk, and Pierre de Castelnau, 
Archdeacon of Maguelon, were charged with the work of destruc- 
tion and the execution of those diabolical edicts. In 1206, the mis- 
sionaries were strengthened by the Spaniard Dominic, the Inquisitor, 
uniting with them, and soon after, the order of preaching friars was 
established, whose business it was to go through all towns and vil- 
lages to preach the faith, but secretly to obtain information as to 
the dwellings of those who were obnoxious to the Pope's vengeance. 
When those heresy-hunters had purged different provinces of the 
enemies of the Roman faith, the Pontiff became sensible of the 






DURING THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 67 



value of their services, and in a few years he placed in those towns 
whose inhabitants had the misfortune to be suspected of heresy mis- 
sionaries of a like nature, though the people showed the greatest 
opposition to such institutions. Mosheim's Ecc. Hist., Cent. 13, p. 
2, chap. 5, 34. 

Every year, and almost every month, seemed to present new diffi- 
culties and dangers to the Waldenses and Albigenses. In 1208, the 
legates and monks adopted a new plan to suppress heresy; they 
mustered a crusade, with a promise of the fullest extent of indul- 
gence, both in plunder and crime, as much so as was ever given to 
the Crusaders for the deliverance of the Holy Land. The property 
of dissenters now became a stimulus and a bounty to all those who 
would join the crusading army, and also a promise of the Pope's 
forgiveness for all crimes. A peaceable and inoffensive people, a 
lovely and delightful region in a state of growing prosperity, was 
now delivered to the fury of countless hordes of fanatics. It seems 
that Raymond VI, the reigning Count of Toulouse, did not appro- 
bate the design of those crusades, and a stratagem was laid by the 
Pope's Legate, Peter of Castleneau, to entrap Raymond and thereby 
neutralize his opposition, but the scheme required too great a sacri- 
fice to suit the Count's dignity. He did not incline to relinquish 
his rights and calmly submit to the entrance of an army already 
hostile into his estates, who were to put to death and pillage all 
those of his vassals whom the Roman clergy should fix upon as the 
victims of their cruelty. He, therefore, refused his consent, and 
Peter, the Legate, in his wrath, excommunicated him, laid his 
country under an interdict, and wrote to the Pope to ratify what he 
had done. This difficulty between the parties in power procrasti- 
nated for a time the work of destruction to the property and persons 
of the Albigenses. This dispute led to the assassination of Peter of 
Castleneau by a friend of Raymond. The intelligence of this mur- 
der roused the Pope to the highest pitch of fury. His first bull was 
against Raymond of Toulouse, commanding that faith must not be 
observed towards those who keep not faith towards God, or who are 
separated from the communion of the faithful. All persons were 
relieved from their oaths of allegiance; they were to pursue his per- 
son and take possession of his territories. Dissenters now knew 
that the cause of Raymond was their cause, as long as they were 
able to withstand the crusaders. This position, however, they were 
not able to maintain long. 

In 1209, a formidable army of Cross-Bearers, of forty days' ser- 
vice, was put into motion, destined to destroy all heretics. This 
army consisted of, some say three, others five hundred thousand men. 
At their head, as chief commander, was (let every Englishman 
blush) Simon de Montford, Earl of Leicester. The cruelties of 
these Crusaders appear to have no parallel; in a few months there 
were sacrificed about two hundred thousand lives, and barbarities 



68 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



practiced before unheard of, all of which met the approbation of 
Innocent III. 

Two large cities, Beziers and Carcassone, were reduced to ashes, 
and thousands of victims perished by the sword, while thousands of 
others, driven from their burning houses, were wandering in the 
woods and mountains, sinking daily under the pressure of want. 
Simondi's Hist, of the Crusades, p. 6, etc. 

Many heinous atrocities were committed on the inoffensive Chris- 
tians during those crusades, the enormity of which is chilling to the 
feelings of humanity. The success of those crusading crimes against 
the followers of Christ became very flattering to the party in power, 
after they had inundated various portions of France with the blood 
of the saints ; the monks re-commenced in 1212, their preaching 
throughout Christendom, with more ardor than before. The army 
was renewed four times this year, each army professedly serving 
forty days. The country was now found almost destitute of victims, 
and their thirst for blood and money was not yet satiated. Mont- 
ford, their leader, resolved, therefore, to take advantage of his army, 
aud conducted them against Agenois, whose entire population were 
Catholics; he compelled those who survived the assault to pay a 
sum of money as a ransom for their lives. Jealousy now began to 
arise betwixt the Pope and the crusading leaders; the former lagged 
in his exertions for a time, but too late to benefit the depressed cause 
of the Albigenses. 

" I have/' says Mr. Jones, " traced the total extermination of the 
Albigenses, and with it the extinction of the cause of reformation, 
so happily introduced in the twelfth century. The slaughter had been 
so prodigious, the massacre so universal, the terror so profound, 
and of so long duration, that the Church of Home appeared com- 
pletely to have obtained her object. The churches were drowned in 
the blood of their members, or every where broken up or scattered — 
the public worship of the Albigenses had everywhere ceased. All 
teaching had become impossible. Almost every pastor or elder had 
perished in a frightful manner, and the very small number of those 
who had succeeded in escaping the edge of the sword now sought 
an asylum in distant countries and were enabled to avoid perse- 
cutions only by preserving the most studied silence respecting their 
opinions. The private members who had not perished by either 
fire or sword, or who had not withdrawn by flight from the scrutiny 
of the inquisition, knew that they could preserve their lives only 
by burying their creed in their bosoms. For them there were no 
more sermons, no more public prayers, no more ordinances of 
the Lord's house — even their children were not to be made 
acquainted, for a time at least, with their sentiments." Lect. on 
Ec. Hist., Sect. 41 to 44. Mos. Hist., vol. 2, p. 432. 

The Albigenses who had been compelled to return into Langue- 
doc, received accessions sufficiently numerous, in 1 222, to animate 
them with a hope of renewing their instructions and reorganizing 



DURING THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 69 



their churches. The monks and inquisitors from some cause, being 
at this period destitute of aid from the secular arm, could only look 
on the gathering together of these people with regret. Mr. Orchard 
says : 

"About one hundred of the principal Albigenses held a meeting 
at a place called Picussau Rasez, at which Gullabert de Cashes pre- 
sided. He was one of the oldest of their preachers, and had escaped 
the researches of the fanatics. This assembly provided pastors, or 
teachers for the destitute churches, whose former office-bearers had 
perished in the flames, by the sword or gibbet." Orchard's Hist., 
p. 219. 

Raymond continued to be troublesome to the party in power, at 
different times from 1207 to 1221, when he died; but his son, young 
Raymond, feeling stung by the injustice done his father, and succeed- 
ing him in authority, he soon banished the crusaders and inquisitors 
from the country of Toulouse, and who continued to give the whole 
Catholic party trouble until about the middle of the century. In 
1229, the Albigenses being driven from their homes, migrated into 
Germany and Switzerland ; some crossed the Alps, and found an 
asylum in the valleys of Piedmont, which were under the clement 
scepter of the Dukes of Savoy, while the Pyreneean mountains 
afforded a convenient retreat to thousands of these exiles. 

While Raymond was struggling to gain his lost possession from 
the usurpers, the Christians retained some gleam of hope ; but in 
1243, Raymond suffered still another reverse in prospects, and finally 
acknowledged homage to the Pope and King, and the land became 
quiet. Thus terminated all hope with the extinction of one million 
of inoffensive lives. Yet, after all this waste of life, it is asserted on 
good authority that the Gospelers, or Berengarians, amounted to 
800,000 persons in 1260. In taking our leave of France for this 
thirteenth century, we leave the above number of people that may 
be properly called Baptists, as it is the doctrinal tenets held and 
propagated that distinguishes a people. 

We have already alluded to the Albigenses' fleeing into Bohemia 
from the persecutions in France. These people held the same doc- 
trine in Bohemia that they did in France, so that a synopsis of their 
faith would be useless in this place. 

An inquisitor of the Church of Rome says of the Bohemians : 
" They say the Church of Rome is not the Church of Jesus Christ, 
but an assembly of ungodly men, and that it ceased to be the true 
Church at the time Pope Sylvester (330) presided. They despise 
and reject all the ordinances of the Church, as being too many and 
very burdensome." All Bohemian writers state that the Picards, 
or Waldenses, settled early in this kingdom, and that these people 
baptized and re-baptized such persons as joined their churches, and 
that they had always done so. They are said in the fourteenth cen- 
tury, to have numbered 80,000 in this kingdom. Robins' Res., pp. 
506, 508. 



70 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



We now turn our attention to the valleys of Piedmont. In 1200 
we find large accessions of Albigenses, who fled from the crusading 
armies, to these valleys for shelter. Mosheim says : "Their num- 
bers became so formidable as to menace the Papal jurisdiction with 
a fatal overthrow. It has been observed, and the thing is worthy 
of notice, that at a period when all the potentates of Europe were 
combined to second the intolerant measures of the court of Rome, 
the Dukes of Savoy, who were now become the most intolerant 
monarchs in Christendom, should have allowed their subjects the 
liberty of conscience, and protected them in the legitimate exercise of 
their civil and religious principles. They were secluded in a con- 
siderable degree from general observation, and led a quiet and peace- 
ful life, in all godliness and honesty. The princes and the govern- 
ors of the country in which they lived were constantly receiving the 
most favorable reports of them, as a people simple in their manners, 
free from deceit and malice, upright in their dealings, loyal to their 
governors, and ever ready to yield them a cheerful obedience, and in 
everything that did not interfere with the claims of conscience ; con- 
sequently, the governors constantly turned a deaf ear to the solicit- 
ations of priests and monks to disturb their tranquility. The toler- 
ant principles of the Dukes, with the sequestered habitations of 
these people; the difficulty of approaching their territories, their 
little intercourse with the world, connected with their simplicity of 
manners, were favorable circumstances to all the pious of the glens 
of Piedmont, while it afforded nothing inviting to strangers or the 
polite and fashionable. Consequently, these people appear to have 
enjoyed a considerable share of tranquility, while their brethren in 
the South of France were exposed to the fury of Papal vengeance. 
It is natural, therefore, to conclude, that when persecution raged 
against the churches in France, that the persecuted would seek an 
asylum among the Alps on the one side, and the recesses of the 
Pyrenees on the other. These mountains, at all trying seasons, 
afforded a retreat to all the sons of civil and religious liberty. The 
Waldenses were not dismayed, nor their zeal checked on account of 
the destruction of the Albigensian brotherhood, but they continued 
in their course, promoting the cause of truth. It is said, in 1223, 
they had good and extensive churches in many of the provinces and 
kingdoms. In 1229 they had spread themselves in great numbers 
throughout Italy. They had ten schools in Valeamoniea alone, 
which were supported by contributions from all their societies. In 
1250, Reiner Sacco, who had lived seventeen years among them, left 
the Waldenses and went over to the Catholic party ; and when his 
persecuting propensities were sufficiently proven, he was raised to 
the office of Inquisitor. He wrote an account of this people and 
their heresy. He says, in his time there was an innumerable mul- 
titude of Waldenses. There was an effort made as early as 1252, to 
introduce the inquisition into Piedmont, but the sanguinary proceed- 
ings of those officers of his Holiness against the Languedocians had 



DURING THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 71 



sufficiently opened the eyes of the inhabitants to the spirit and 
design of that infernal court ; besides, it was found to interfere with 
the duties of the magistrates ; it also came into conflict with resident 
bishops and priests of the same community, which created opposition 
from all parts. The Piedmontese resisted its establishment in every 
shape and form. In this century, their churches are said to exist in 
Albania, Lombardy, Milan, Ro magna,- Vicenza, Florence, Valspo- 
letine and Constantinople, Philadelphia, Sclavonia, Bulgaria and 
Deagonitia. At after periods, they were found in considerable num- 
bers in Sicily, and posterior to their persecution in Picardy, they 
dispersed themselves in Livonia and Sarmatia, and other provinces 
and kingdoms. Jones' Lect., vol. 2, pp. 255, 431, 488. 

The persecutions in Italy and other countries, caused an accession 
to the Baptists in these times, who had become known by the appel- 
lation of brethren of the free spirit or Beghards. It was no uncom- 
mon thing in those times to reproach persons for their piety and 
devotion to the truth as Massalians, Euchites, Bohemites, and Beg- 
hards, meaning persons of prayer. They first appeared as a reli- 
gious body in the eleventh century, probably from the labors of 
those men already alluded to, left Italy about 1025, but have 
become more numerous and attracted more attention during the 
thirteenth century. 

It seems the first society of Beguines was first established in Ger- 
many, and early in this century. Its design and progress seems to 
have been for good, and resulted in good. Our accounts in relation 
to them are: that a certain number of pious women, both virgins 
and widows, in order to maintain their integrity and preserve their 
principles from the contagion of a vicious and corrupt age, formed 
themselves into societies, each of which had a fixed place for its loca- 
tion, and was under the inspection and government of a female head. 
Here they divided their time between exercises of devotion and 
works of honest industry — reserving to themselves the liberty of 
entering into a state of matrimony or quitting the society whenever 
they thought proper. This seems to have been a kind of pattern, 
and paved the way for the formation of many institutions of the 
same nature, in France, Germany, Flanders, and Holland; and that 
towards the middle of this century there was scarcely a city of any 
note which had not its beguineage or vineyard. Cant., 8. 12, Ps., 
80. 15. This example of the women was followed by corresponding 
institutions for men, and these pious persons were, in the style of 
the age, called Beghards and Beguines, and, by a corruption of that 
term usual among the Flemish and Dutch, Pogards; but from others 
at an after period, they were denominated Sollard. The same relig- 
ious views and purposes were adopted by the different establishments 
of both men and women. Mosh. Hist., vol. 2, p. 400. 

These people's religious views coincided with those of the Wald- 
enses and Albigenses; they re-baptized suchas joined their churches, 
as the Waldenses had done in early ages; and though a law was 



72 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



made against the Picards for re-baptizing, yet they suffered burning 
in the hand and banishment rather than forego what they considered 
their duty. Dr. Wall, a candid opponent, speaks of them as being 
very numerous in Germany; they chose their pastors from among 
married men; they mutually called one another brother and sister; 
they owned no other authority than the Scriptures. These people 
suffered greatly under the cruel edicts of Frederick II, which ex- 
tended over all the imperial cities in 1220. Those severe measures 
awakened in the lower orders of the people retaliating feelings; 
these received the officers of the Pope with clubs, stones, daggers and 
poison. Oppression can wear out the patience of good men. It is 
said, in 1233, that an innumerable multitude of heretics was burned 
alive through Germany, and a greater number was converted. Perse- 
cution has never been able to quench the flame of God's love in his 
children. 

1300. Our accounts of the witnesses of the truth in the fourteenth 
century, except in Bohemia, the valleys of Piedmont, and Germany, 
are very meagre. It seems that the persecutions carried on against 
the followers of the Lamb, for several centuries back, have concen- 
trated the great body of those who escaped death into the adjacent 
countries of the great battle-ground of the reformation of the six- 
teenth century. We have no authentic accounts of the establishment 
of Popery in Bohemia before the ninth century, at which time it 
was introduced by two monks. The system at first was not very well 
received, but gaining strength gradually for five centuries, it became 
fully established under Charles IV. Some opposition was made by 
two of his Majesty's chaplains, who persuaded the Emperor to curb 
the Pope and reform the church, but these friends of liberty were 
banished and the advocates of reform lost all hopes of succeeding 
by favor of the Emperor. By the banishment of these two noble 
men, the voice of reform at court was silenced; ignorance, profligacy 
and vice prevailed among all orders of men; in the national churches 
the Inquisition was introduced to enforce uniformity in matters of 
religion. The consequence was that multitudes withdrew themselves 
from the public places of worship and followed the dictates of their 
own conscience by worshiping God in private houses, woods, and 
caves. The secular power was soon brought to bear against them, 
and they were, many of them, persecuted- unto death, notwithstand- 
ing Bohemia had been a place of retreat for the persecuted saints 
in former centuries. Thus things remained until the appearance of 
Huss and Jerome of Prague. Jones' Hist., Sec, p. 199. 

In the Litter part of Wickliffe's life, Richard II, King of Eng- 
land, married Annie, sister to the King of Bohemia, and conse- 
quently opened a free intercourse between the two kingdoms. Peter 
Payn, Principal of Edmond Hall, in the University of Oxford, who 
became obnoxious to Papal violence for his opposition to the rites of 
that church, fled into Bohemia, to which place he brought a number 
of Wickliffe's tiacts. These were highly esteemed by Huss and 



DURING THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 73 



Jerome, and the greater part of the University. The introduction 
of these writings into the University gave great offence to the Catho- 
lic clergy, and the Archbishop of Prague issued his orders for all 
persons possessing such books to bring them to him; consequently, 
two hundred volumes of them, finely written, and adorned with 
costly covers and gold borders, were committed to the flames. This 
conduct in Archbishop Sleynko excited great disgust in the minds of 
the students of the University of Prague, and Huss in particular. 



FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 

John Huss was born in the village of Hussinetz, in 1375, of 
parents, said by some, in affluent circumstances. He studied in the 
University of Prague. At the age of twenty-one, he was raised to 
the dignity of professor, and in 1400, he was appointed to preach in 
one of the largest churches of that city. Robins. Res., p. 480. 
Previous to 1300, the accessions to the valley, by those of their per- 
secuted brethren from other countries had settled the country so 
dense that many of them, at the commencement of this century, emi- 
grated. Some went into Pruince and settled in the district of Avig- 
non, where they labored and lived in credit; others obtained grants 
of land in the marquisate of Salucis ; many took up their residence 
on the river Dora; while the greater portion of emigrants, at an after 
period, went into Calabria, in the extremity of Italy on the east, to 
which place they were invited by the lords of the soil, and where 
arrangements were made for their enjoying civil and religious lib- 
erty. These emigrants carried the lamp of divine truth with' them, 
and the countries wherever they settled were enlightened thereby. 

For one hundred and thirty years after the destruction of the 
churches in France, the Waldenses in these valleys experienced a 
tolerable portion of ease and a respite from the severity of a general 
persecution, all of which time they multiplied greatly, and were as 
a people whom the Lord had evidently blessed. They took deep root, 
they filled the land, they covered the hills with their shadows, and sent 
out their boughs unto the sea, and their branches unto the rivers. Yet 
they were occasionally troubled by the inquisitors, who severely 
used those who fell into their hands, as was experienced in some 
parts of Germany. In Picardy, the severity of their afflictions 
drove many into Poland; but here they were disturbed, in 1330, by 
the inquisitors. "In 1370," says Murie, "the Vaudois, who resided 
in the valleys of Pragela, finding themselves straitened, sent out a 
colony to Calabrias, where they flourished for nearly two centuries. 
Near the end of this century, some of the Waldenses suffered in 
Paris from the monks. 



74 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



Early in the fourteenth century there was a bold and intrepid 
teacher raised up in Germany, among the Beghards or Picards, in 
the person of Walter Sollard, who became an eminent pastor among 
them, and from whom the Waldenses were called Sollards. Clark 
says Sollard stirred up the Albigenses by his powerful preaching, 
converting many to the truth and faith of these people. Aloreland 
asserts he was in great reputation with the Waldenses for having 
conveyed their doctrines into England, where they prevailed all 
over the kingdom. Mosheim remarks that Walter was a Dutchman, 
and was a chief among Beghards, or brethren of the free spirit. He 
was a man of learning and great eloquence, and famous for his writ- 
ings. Walter was in unity of views in doctrine, and practice, with 
the Waldenses. He was a laborious and successful preacher among 
the Baptists who resided on the Rhine, but his converts are said to 
have covered all England. The Sollai'ds rejected infant baptism as 
a needless ceremony. 

In 1320, Sollard was apprehended and burnt. In him the Beg- 
hards and Rhine lost their chief leader and champion. His death 
was highly detrimental to their affairs, but did not, however, ruin 
their cause, for it appears they were supported by men of rank and 
great learning, and continued their societies in many provinces in 
Germany. 

About 1330, these people were greviously harrassed and oppressed 
in several parts of Germany, by an inquisitor named Eachard, a 
Jacobine monk. After inflicting cruelties for a length of time, with 
great severity, upon the Picards, he was induced to investigate the 
causes and reasons of their separation from the Church of Rome. 
The force of truth ultimately prevailed over all his prejudices. His 
own conscience attested that many of the errors and corruptions 
which they charged on that apostate church really existed, and 
finding himself unable to disprove the artices of their faith by the 
word of God, he confessed that the force of truth had overcome 
him, gave glory to God, and entered into communion with the Wal- 
denses' Churches, which he had been engaged in persecuting even 
unto death. The news of his conversion aroused the ire of the in- 
quisitors. Emissaries were dispatched in pursuit of him ; he was at 
length apprehended and conveyed to Heidelburg, where he was com- 
mitted to the flames. Orchard's Hist., 333. Jones' Lect., vol. 2, 
p. 428. 

About the middle of this century, the renowned John Wickliffe, 
of England was said to be one of the most learned men of the age 
in which he flourished. His reputation for learning, piety and 
virtue was so great that Archbishop Islep appointed him First 
Warden of Canterbury College, Oxford, in 1365. His lectures in 
divinity which he read in that University were much admired; 
though in these lectures he treated the clergy, and particularly the 
mendicant friars, with no little freedom and severity. A discourse 
which he published against the Pope's demand of homage and 



DURING THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 75 



tribute from Edward III for the Kingdom of England recom- 
mended him so much to that Prince, that the latter bestowed upon 
him several benefices, and employed him in several embassies. In 
one of these embassies to the Court of Rome, 1374, he discovered 
so much of the corruptions of that Court, that he became more 
bold and more severe in his censures of those errors and corruptions. 
He even proceeded so far as to call the Pope Antichrist, to deny his 
supremacy, and to expose his intolerable tyranny and extortions in 
the strongest terms. This, as might naturally have been expected, 
drew upon him the indignation of His Holiness, and involved him 
in various troubles. Two several attempts were made by the Pope 
to arraign him before the bishops to have him sentenced for heresy ; 
one in London, where Wickliffe was treated with some indignity, 
which excited so violent a tumult in the Court, that it broke up in 
great confusion, without doing any business. His next appearance 
before the Papal Commissioners was at Lambeth, where he was 
attended by so great a body of the citizens of London, that his 
judges were deterred from pronouncing any sentence against him ; and 
their commission soon after terminated by the death of the Pope, 
March 27, 1378. Difficulties now arose between the different aspir- 
ants for the popedom, which gave Wickliffe a little respite from his 
enemies. His writings were so universally received by the people 
of England, that they were not to be suppressed by small exertions; 
but after the papal chair had been filled, and peace restored in the 
Court of Rome, vigorous measures were taken to suppress his writ- 
ings and stop his career; but all their exertion failed, and he died 
at his own home, in Leicestershire, December 31, 1384. Thus a 
great man had fallen, but his works and sentiments still live. His 
reformatory sentiments took deep root in England and found their 
way into Bohemia, where John Huss and Jerome of Prague, 
embraced them; and as Wickliffe had done, they strove to reform 
the corruptions and abuses of the Catholic church. Jones' Ch. 



Hist., pp. 406, 407. 



FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 

1500. We here resume an account of the Baptists in Bohemia, 
and those people who entertained Baptist views. We have already 
alluded to John Huss, who commenced his career in the latter 
part of the fourteenth century, and continued to oppose the corrup- 
tions of the Catholic Church, until he brought down the execrations 
of the Pope upon him. We have no means of ascertaining Huss' 
views, only as we gather them from his writings and those who 



76 HISTORY OP THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



were familiarly acquainted with him. In a letter written by Eras- 
mus, we have the following: 

"The Hussites renounced all rites and ceremonies of the Catholic 
Church ; they ridiculed our doctrine and practice in both the sacra- 
ments; they admit none until they are dipped in water, and they 
receive one another without distinctions of rank, to be called 
brothers and sisters," which accords with what is said of the early 
Waldenses in Bohemia, as detailed by Dr. Allix. These Hussites 
prevailed in Hungary, Silicia and Poland, though his followers were 
most numerous in those cities of Germany that lay on the Rhine — 
especially at Cologne, where they were afterwards called Sollards. 
Mos. Hist., vol. 2, p. 509. Jerome of Prague was the intimate 
friend and companion of Huss, and said to be inferior to him in age, 
experience and authority, but his superior in all the liberal endow- 
ments. He was educated in the city of his nativity. When he 
had finished his studies, he traveled into many countries of Europe, 
where he was admired- particularly for his graceful elocution. 
During his travels, he visited England, where he obtained access to 
Wickliffe's writings, which he copied out and returned with them to 
Prague. He had distinguished himself by an active co-operation 
with Huss in all his hostility to the abominations of the times, 
which caused him to be cited before the Council of Constance, on 
the 17th of April, 1415, at the time his friend Huss was confined in 
a castle near that city. He endeavored to shun the demand by 
keeping out of the way, but was finally arrested at Hersechaw and 
conveyed to Constance. Huss and Jerome were tried by the same 
council, and afterwards burned by their order. Huss suffered July, 

1415. He sustained his sentence with the most heroic fortitude, 
praying for his persecutors. The dread of death at first intimidated 
Jerome, which caused his sentence to be delayed. His enemies took 
advantage of those symptoms in hopes of gaining him over, but he 
recovered his wonted vigor and avowed his sentiments in the most 
firm and open manner, and supported them with increasing confi- 
dence to the last. He expired in the flames, singing " Hanc animam, 
in fin mmis, offero, Christe, tibi;" i. e., This soul of mine, in flames of 
fire, O Christ, I offer thee. Jones' Hist,, p. 205. 

Poggious, who was secretary to the Pope, a frank, ingenious man, 
saw and loved Jerome in the Council, and wrote in a letter to his 
friend Leonard Dreten, a eulogium on him, in a spirit of admira- 
tion and love. « Our limited space forbids the insertion of this 
letter, but we will say the learning and ability displayed in this 
defense were worthy of the occasion and would do honor to the most 
learned of that or any other age. He suffered martyrdom May 20, 

1416. Jones' Hist/ Church, vol. 2, pp. 207-211. Robin's "Res. 
p. 513. 

The Baptists, from time immemorial, lived about the forests and 
mines. These people were now multiplied by accessions from other 
kingdoms aud by those converted under the labors of Huss and 



DURING THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 77 



Jerome. This people seem to be of different sentiments on doctrinal 
subjects, but in general they entertained the same notions of religion 
as the old Vaudois did. They were all indiscriminately called Wal- 
denses and Picards, and it is said they all re-baptized. Huss, while 
in prison, wrote a letter to a friend in Prague, in which he said : 
"Salute also/my brother, teachers in Christ, shoemakers, tailors and 
writers, and tell them to attend diligently to the Holy Scriptures." 
The people were indignant at the severe measures practiced by the 
Pope. It is said the priesthood suffered every indignity from those 
aroused people. It is evident that many of those who were in 
favor were convinced of the truths taught by those reformers, but 
their own interests required silence on their part, for they, as Deme- 
trius, could say, " It is by this craft we have our gain." Acts xix, 25. 
It is said that Crato, physician to the Emperor Maximilian, was 
one day riding with him in the royal carriage, when His Imperial 
Majesty asked the Doctor what sect he thought came nearest the sim- 
plicity of the Apostles? Crato replied, "I verily think the people 
called Picards." The Emperor replied, " I think so too." Robin's 
Res., pp. 508-521. 

These severe measures adopted to suppress heresy, aroused the 
people, and those who had formerly been obedient subjects were 
aroused to a resentful community. Feeling their importance, and 
seeing the union of efforts to suppress their privileges, they gathered 
together in multitudes in the country, about five miles from Prague, 
where the people met for worship. They elected their own preach- 
ers, who administered to this company of various sentiments the 
Lord's Supper at three hundred tables (a board laid on casks), to 
forty thousand people. The conflict now commenced between the 
Hussites and the Catholics, confusion ensued, riots and murders 
were frequent. In the city of Prague, the enraged citizens threw 
twelve Imperial officers out of the windows of the Council Cham- 
ber. The Emperor entered Bohemia with an armed force, and the 
Protestants, to defend their rights, took up arms and chose Ziska as 
their General. It is said the Vaudois, Waldenses, Picards did not 
enter Ziska's army during the war. We know their principles were 
opposed to war, and it is saidt hey did not seem to have borne arms 
at any time. This war lasted twelve years, at the close of which 
time the Protestants in part formed a society of persons, holding a 
variety of religious views, but all opposed to the Catholic Church, 
and called themselves The United Brethren. They received 
accessions from those who opposed the Catholic party, until they 
became very strong at the beginning of the sixteenth century. We 
shall continue the history of those people in the next century. 

We now proceed to notice the advocates of truth in some of the 
valleys of Piedmont. About the year 1400, a violent outrage was 
committed upon the Waldenses inhabiting the valley of Pregela by 
a Catholic party residing in the neighborhood. The attack was 
made towards the end of December when the mountains were 



78 HISTORY OP THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



covered with snow, and those who were not massacred were driven 
from their homes, and many perished with cold. 

This seems to have been the first attack that the Catholic peasan- 
try had made on the Waldenses. They had been hitherto sheltered 
by the Dukes of Savoy, so that the rage of their enemies had been 
restrained to a few solitary cases of arrested heresy. This was only 
the beginning of a series of troubles and persecutions that were 
awaiting these people, for it seems they saw very little peace during 
this century. Their enemies speak of them as a very inoffensive 
people, who are punctual in fulfilling their contracts, and live mostly 
in poverty ; they profess to preserve the apostolic life and doctrine. 
Many of the other valleys were invaded by the monks and inquisi- 
tors and the inhabitants destroyed by thousands during this century. 
About 1485, the Pontiff himself was filled with apprehension of 
danger. 

The Turks threatened Europe generally, on the one hand, and 
dangers were seen to await the Church by dissidents, on the other. 
The Pope strongly exhorted European princes to put a stop to the 
progress of both. In order to raise pecuniary means adequate to 
the expenses of these undertakings, indulgences to sin were sold by 
the servants of the Church, and pardons for crimes past or to be 
committed could be purchased of those imps of iniquity. So effec- 
tual were the Papal measures that the inhabitants were wholly extir- 
pated in many valleys, and those abodes were afterwards peopled 
with new inhabitants. In 1487, scenes of barbarity awaited these 
long privileged people who inhabited other districts of Piedmont, 
and in the ensuing year, to complete the work of destruction, an 
army of eighteen thousand men marched into these sequestered parts. 
The early Waldenses forbade war, and even prohibited self-defence, 
but their patience was worn out, (Dan. vii : 25,) and they now 
departed from their ancestors' creed. They armed themselves with 
wooden targets and cross-bows, availing themselves of the advan- 
tages of their situation and country, everywhere defended the defiles 
of their mountains, and repulsed the invaders. Their women and 
children were on their knees during the conflict, and in the simplest 
language arising from overwhelming grief and distress entreated 
the Lord to save and defend His people. Such were the feelings 
inspired in this people by the sanguinary and brutal conduct 6f the 
inquisitors and soldiers that fear led them to avoid public worship, 
and in time their worship was observed wholly in private. Some of 
the Waldenses found it expedient occasionally to conform to the 
communion which their ancestors had ever viewed as the harlot in 
the Apocalypse. Evidences now increase, and become but too appa- 
rent, of degeneracy from their primitive purity and practice. A 
succession of adverse circumstances awaited the Waldenses. They 
were destroyed and driven into obscurity, until the Catholic Church 
was left at ease in the quiet enjoyment of things as they wished to 
have them. The Church at the beginning of the sixteenth century 



DURING THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 79 



was unusually calm and tranquil. The witnesses ceased to trouble 
the Church. Orchard*s Ch. Hist., p. 281. Jones' Lect., vol. 2, 
pp. 190—8. 

The Baptists in Germany, at the commencement of this century, 
are said to have inhabited those cities that lay on the Rhine. Espe- 
cially at Cologne, they had considerable accessions from the labors of 
John Huss, who, in 1407, became a bold champion in the cause of 
truth. He taught the same doctrines as Sollard and Wickliffe ; he was 
popular, and his discourses were full of those truths charged on the 
Anabaptists. John Huss, with Jerome, traveled and labored for 
the interest of the Redeemer, consequently, dissenters were multi- 
plied in the Empire. These people, reasoning on the principles 
laic] down by Huss and Jerome, on the sufficiency of the Scriptures 
to guide them in the affairs of religion, entertained the same ideas 
of the Gospel as the old Vaudois, and with their successors, the 
Beghards, they became incorporated. They were indiscriminately 
called Waldenses or Picards; and they all, says Robinson, re-bap- 
tized, but they entertained views widely different on other subjects. 
The deaths of Huss and Jerome, accompanied with efforts on the 
part of the clergy to excite the people to destroy heretics awakened 
in these people a conviction of their danger. They, therefore, formed 
a plan of leaving Upper Germany for the lower parts of the Empire, 
but the vigorous opposition of their enemies, who learned their 
design, prevented them from realizing their object. They now 
found there was no alternative left them but calmly to submit to 
their fate or defend their rights the best way they could. The non- 
conformists of all classes, throughout the empire, saw all their 
religious and civil liberties at stake. John de Troeznow — com- 
monly called Ziska, from his having only one eye — determined, as 
the last defence, to take up arms, as already alluded to, under the 
Bohemian head. 

In 1457, a great number of Waldenses were discovered by inquis- 
itors in the diocese of Eiston, in Germany, who were put to death. 
These sufferers confessed they had among them in that district 
twelve barbs, or pastors, who labored in the work of the ministry. 
It appears from what Trithemius relates, who lived at this time, that 
Germany was full of Waldenses prior to the reformation by Luther, 
for he mentions it as a well known, fact that so numerous were they, 
that in traveling from Cologne to Milan, the whole extent of Ger- 
many, they could lodge every night with persons of their own pro- 
fession ; and that it was a custom among them to fix certain signs, 
or private marks at their gates, whereby they might be known to 
each other. This is allowed by the best of historians, and conceded 
by Mosheira, who asserts : " Before the rise of Luther or Calvin, 
there lay concealed in all the countries of Europe, particularly in 
Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland and Germany, many persons who 
adhered tenaciously to the doctrines of the Dutch Baptists, which 
the Waldenses, Wickliffites and Hussites had maintained — some in a 



80 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



more disguised and some in a more public manner, viz.: that the King- 
dom of Christ, or the visible Church He had established upon earth, 
was an assembly of true and real saints, and ought, therefore, to be 
inaccessible to the wicked and unrighteous ; and also exempt from 
those institutions which human prudence suggested to oppose the 
progress of iniquity, or to correct and reform transgressors. This 
maxim is the true source of all the peculiarities that are to be found 
in the religious doctrine and discipline of the Baptists. It is evi- 
dent that these views were approved of by many before the dawn of 
the reformation." " They made no figure in the world/' says Vol- 
taire, " but they laid open the dangerous truth which is implanted 
in every breast, that mankind are all born equal." Ecc. Hist., vol. 
3, p. 320. Rob. Bap., p. 480. 

At the conclusion of the fifteenth century, Germany was divided 
into sixteen circles, governed by sovereign princes, whose tyrannical 
oppression would exceed belief, were they not well attested ; conse- 
quently, the peasants or boors were slaves everywhere. The peas- 
ants had endeavored several times in Germany, as in Switzerland, to 
obtain their freedom. In 1491, they made another attempt, but 
failed. In 1502, another attempt proved alike abortive. 

The princes and ecclesiastics continued to be supreme, by rioting 
in luxury wrung from their respective peasants. The ignorance of 
the priests was extreme. Numbers of them could not read, and few 
had ever seen a Bible. Many, on oath, declared they knew not that 
there was a New Testament. Yet this ignorant and lordly class 
was supported at an enormous expense. The taxes of the state, the 
luxury of princes, and the ponderous burden of tithes for the sup- 
port of the Church, were all produced by the labor of the peasants ; 
consequently, the situation, to a people who, from early times, had 
been distinguished by the love of liberty, became insufferable. The 
Catholic Church was made up of monsters living in the most com- 
plicated crimes, and the greater portion of the community had 
become profoundly stupid. During all those troubles and persecu- 
tions, the advocates of truth, no matter where driven, or where their 
lots were cast, they ceased not to preach and teach reform. They 
did not only feel the want of liberty of conscience, but they felt the 
weight of secular and ecclesiastical tyranny. The great leaders of 
reform in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, were now dead ; 
but we see others, of learning and piety, springing up — such as Het- 
zer and Deuck, who published translations of parts of the Scrip- 
tures. And many eloquent and enlightened men only awaited an 
opening in providence, to come forth and advocate publicly the 
Gospel of Christ. But it is said amidst all the sectaries of religion, 
the Baptists best understood the doctrine of religious liberty; to them, 
therefore, the peasants turned their eyes for counsel, and to their 
immortal honor be it recorded, that the Baptists were always on the 
side of liberty. Under whatever government they could realize 
this boon, whether Pagan, Saracen, or Christian, domestic or foreign, 



DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 81 



that dynasty which would guard their freedom, was their 
government. In this respect, like the Apostles, they paid no regard 
to its religion — civil government was their object. This might be 
traced in all their migratory movements from the Italy dissenters to 
the Rhode Island settlements. Id., pp. 641, 311. Robins' Res., 
p. 545. 

We have traced the Gospel Church from its establishment at 
Jerusalem by Christ and His Apostles, through fifteen consecutive 
centuries; and notwithstanding we have followed her through many 
dark and trying conflicts, yet we have never found her, in any 
country, at any time, without the truth — holding and practicing the 
ordinances and discipline of the Church in accordance with the 
Apostolic injunction. This part of the history of the Church is 
much obscured, and some of the Protestant denominations are 
willing to have it so, and will contend that the Baptists sprang 
out of Luther's reformation. But we find a people on the borders 
of, but previous to the reformation, bearing their name, holding and 
preaching the same doctrine, scattered in great numbers throughout 
Bohemia ; all the vallies of Piedmont, at the foot on each side ; on 
and in the defiles of the Pyreneean mountains; Germany, and 
through all the Dutch provinces; also, in Poland, Livonia and 
England, we find the same doctrines and tenets held by commu- 
nities, bearing different names, as circumstances might give rise. 
Those people who refused the communion of the Catholic Church, 
from early times, were called Anabaptists, for the reason they bap- 
tized all persons that joined them from the Catholic Church. They 
never objected to the name Baptist, but Anabaptist they did object 
to, because it misrepresented them. They consider unless a person 
is baptized by immersion and a legal administrator; they are not 
baptized at all. 



SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

As the state of things at the commencement of the sixteenth cen- 
tury brings us near the great epoch of the Reformation, it may be 
well to recapitulate, and give a condensed view of the world relig- 
iously at that time. 

The exertions of the Catholic party to .extirpate heresy were 
never greater than in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, for the 
reason that very many great and learned men became so thoroughly 
convinced of the tyranny and corruptions of the Roman clergy that 
they no longer could forbear, but took a bold stand against them 
and undertook to reform those abuses, and the people being galled 
with taxes, tithes and usuries, were very well prepared to listen to 
6 



82 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



those reforming sentiments and give them encouragement. The 
most prominent of the reformers, in those times, were John Wiok- 
liffe, of England, who was one of the best and most learned men of 
the age in which he flourished — an account of which has been given 
in this work. Wickliffe flourished from the middle to near the end 
of the fourteenth century. John Huss commenced his reforming 
sentiments about the beginning of the fifteenth century, in Bohemia; 
he stood high as a man of learning and piety. Jerome was a coun- 
tryman and intimate friend of Huss; they labored together and 
sympathized with each other in all their troubles; they propagated 
the doctrines of reform for about fifteen years, when they sealed 
with their own blood the zeal they had for the truth. Those cham- 
pions of reform had propagated their sentiments through different 
countries, for upwards of forty years, with great success, assisted by 
a host of others during the same time, not so noted, but equally 
zealous of reform; and who were not deterred by the martyring of 
their leaders, but continued to preach reform; and notwithstanding 
the extreme effort of the party in power to put down heresy, they 
continued to increase very rapidly until the Reformation by Luther, 
and no doubt there were thousands of the laity ready to declare for 
reform whenever a prospect of success might offer. And besides 
those of the Catholic party who had become tired of the oppression 
of the priesthood, there were a vast number of Baptists, many of 
whom, known by different names as their enemies thought proper 
to give them, scattered through different countries, and stood ready 
to second all proper measures of reform, as far as they might con- 
duce to the promulgation of truth. Thus we see the hand of God, 
in conducting human events, and preparing the world for the great 
battle that should overthrow the universal reign of the Beast, and 
shear him of his power. 

At the commencement of the sixteenth century, the people called 
(by many) the* United Brethren were very numerous in Bohemia 
and Moravia. Orchard says they amounted to two hundred congre- 
gations, and that many counts, barons and noblemen joined their 
Churches, and built them meeting houses in their cities and villages. 
These Baptists got the Bible translated into the Bohemian tongue, 
and printed at Venice; when that edition was disposed of, they ob- 
tained two more, printed at Nuremberg. Finding the demand for 
the Holy Scriptures continuing to increase, they established a print- 
ing office at Prague, another at Buntzlau, in Bohemia, and a third 
at Kralitz, in Moravia, where at first they printed nothing but 
Bohemian Bibles. Orchard's Hist., p. 250. 

The disposition of the king of Bohemia might be perceived from 
the import of the prayer he preferred morning and evening. His 
anxiety for peace in his empire led him to offer up these words con- 
tinually: "Give peace in my time, O Lord." The Catholic clergy 
were teasing him continually to suppress heresy. He, in return, 
ordered them to converse with the Picards (or United Brethren), and 



DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 83 



try to persuade them from their errors. But taking advantage of 
the queen's grave situation, they thought it a favorable time to 
operate on the king's mind, in which they were but too successful; 
for at length they obtained an edict for the suppression of the here- 
tics, after which, on due reflection of what he had done, and the 
mischief growing out of it, he was grieved at his conduct, and pro- 
fessedly sought forgiveness of God for his act. When this edict was 
enforced, the brethren were prohibited from holding their religious 
assemblies in public or private, commanding that all their meeting 
houses should be closed, and that within a given time the brethren 
should all hold communion with either Calixtines or Catholics. 
The clergy could not prevail on all of them to conform to their 
cruel measures, and many of the brethren were subjected to severe 
sufferings. Some of them emigrated, others retired into the forests 
and caves, worshiping God in private; for if they were detected in 
their devotions, they were required to own the priests as their shep- 
herds, or be burnt; but they replied, "Christ is the shepherd of our 
souls," and they met their fate rather than dissemble. In this 
confused state, the affairs of the brethren continued until Luther 
appeared as a reformer in Germany. 

It is said that these people were so worn out with suffering, that 
they had been meditating a compromise Avith the Catholic Church; 
and when they heard Luther's bold stand as a reformer, they wrote 
to him for his advice on the subject. His admonitions in the end 
induced them to submit their creed to him, who revised it and pre- 
faced it with praises for orthodoxy, admiring the agreement of this 
modern creed with the ancient church. They now took protection 
under him, and agreed to leave off re-baptizing, which should in 
future be called Anabaptism. Luther, no doubt, elated with the 
accession of so numerous a sect to his ranks, eulogized them, and 
said he had formerly been prejudiced against the brethren called 
Picards, though he had always admired their aptness in the Holy 
Scriptures. It seems that in all ages of the world, the great sin of 
the Baptists," in the eyes of all anti-Christian professions, has been 
what they call re-baptizing, or baptizing members on a profession of 
their faith that had belonged to the Catholic Church or some of her 
descendants; and early in the Reformation, the followers of Luther 
and Calvin used all their influence over the people called United 
Brethren, Waldenses and Baptists to forego this universal practice 
among them, many of whom, it seems, did compromise, and left it 
off, and joined the leaders of the Reformation. Yet the great body 
of the Baptists were scattered over different countries. They were 
called now Anabaptists and Picard Calvinists. The Emperor ex- 
pressed his astonishment at their numbers and horror at their prin- 
cipal error, which was according to Scripture declaration, they were 
to submit to no human authority. 1 Cor. vii : 23. Luther strongly 
objected to those Anabaptists who preached and followed a worldly 
calling. They were universally called Anabaptists by the other 



84 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



denominations — the reformers being as ranch opposed to baptizing 
those that had been sprinkled as the Catholics. 

These people, says Orchard, lived in forty-five divisions called 
colleges, as their ancestors had done previously to their banishment 
from France, about four hundred and fifty years before. But their 
views of liberty and freedom of thought in matters of religion 
soon occasioned the Emperor's displeasure; he consequently ordered 
that all Anabaptists should be banished from his dominions on pain 
of death; but in this case, as in many others, as a sage writer 
remarked, " it is hard to extirpate a whole people." 

From this time, we find all the Baptists comprehended in the 
term of Anabaptist, since the reformers in Germany, as well as the 
Catholics, termed all those who opposed infant sprinkling, Anabap- 
tists. Orchard's Ch. Hist., p. 253. 

As the history of our brethren in the valleys of Piedmont is now 
coming under review, during the sixteenth century, we should now, 
as before, keep in mind that since the eleventh century those people 
have been persecuted, driven and murdered in the most shocking 
manner, without distinction of sex or age, because they dared to 
believe the truth and worship God according to his revealed will, 
and refused to receive the mark of the Beast and to adhere to the 
commandments of men. It is not unreasonable to suppose that 
many of them, under their extreme suffering, may have subscribed 
to some portions of the Catholic faith for the sake of obtaining 
some respite from persecution. Historians say, in some instances, 
they suffered the Catholics to sprinkle their children in order to 
appease the wrath of the Inquisition, saying, among themselves, 
that it would do their children no harm, while others chose death 
rather than dissemble. 

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, as before stated, the 
Catholic Church was unusually calm and tranquil. The witnesses 
had been driven into silence, and ceased to trouble the enemies of 
truth. The rulers had by this time learned by the experience of 
former crusades, that the sending of a large army into those valleys 
to exterminate heresy was attended with great loss of both men 
and money, and resolved on a more easy and simple plan to accom- 
plish the object. In 1500, under cover of convincing them of their 
errors and preventing the effusion of blood, a monk was deputed 
to hold a conference with them ; after doing so, and learning their 
faith, manners and practice, the monk returned in confusion, owning 
that, in his whole life, he had never known so much of the scrip- 
tures as he had learned during those few days he had converserl with 
heretics. Others visited them for the same purpose, by the bishop's 
appointment, and returned with similar views and convictions. The 
king of France, Francis I, being informed of the charges made 
against the Waldenses in Provence, deputed a nobleman to inquire 
into their characters and mode of living. The report of the noble- 
man to his majesty reflected great credit on the Waldenses. Louis 



DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 85 



XII, in 1498, deputed two confidential servants to investigate and 
report on accusations brought against these people. On their return 
to Court, they said "their places of worship were free from those 
ornaments found in Catholic Churches. They discovered no crimes, 
but, on the contrary, they kept the Sabbath day, observed the ordi- 
nance of baptism according to the primitive Church, not- as the 
Catholic Church, instructed their children in the articles of the 
Christian faith and the commandments of God." Consequently the 
king understood they were innocent and an inoffensive people, and 
that they were persecuted in order that their enemies might possess 
their property. 

The first lesson the Waldenses teach those whom they bring over 
to their party, says Reiner, is as to what kind of persons the disci- 
ples of Christ ought to be, and this they do by the evangelists and 
the apostles ; saying that those only are followers of the apostles' 
doctrine who imitate their manner of life, and that a man is then 
first baptized (i. e., rightly) when he is received into society. So 
effectual was their mode of instruction that many among them could 
retain in their memories most of the New Testament writings. The 
celebrated president and historian, Thuanus, says, their clothing is 
of the skins of sheep ; they have no linen ; they live on milk and 
venison, being, through constant practice, excellent marksmen. Poor 
as they are, they are content, and live in a state of seclusion from 
the rest of mankind. One thing, says Orchard, is very remark- 
able — that persons externally so savage and rude, should have so 
much moral cultivation ; they can all read and w r rite ; they know 
French sufficiently for the understanding of the Bible and singing 
of psalms. There could scarcely be a boy found among them who 
could not give an intelligent answer in relation to the faith which 
they possess. In this, indeed, they resemble their brethren of the 
other valleys ; they pay tribute with good conscience, and the obliga- 
tion of this duty is particularly noted in their confession of faith. 

The information of Luther and his associates taking a bold stand 
against the corruptions of the Roman clergy must have been to the 
persecuted Waldenses a source of infinite satisfaction, trusting, no 
doubt, that the time had come when they might be released from the 
iron hand of oppression. When the barbs and pastors of the valleys 
became fully acquainted with the Reformation in Germany, they 
deputed, in 1526, persons to visit and inquire into its truth. The 
deputation returned with some printed book, which gave the breth- 
ren encouragement, from which time, says Mezeray, they began to 
preach openly. This soon attracted the attention of the Catholic 
party, and by a decree made by Anthony Chapaue, they were 
severely punished. It was found by the Waldenses, in their com- 
munications and conferences with Luther, that their views were not 
in unison with, his on the ordinances. Frequent conferences were 
held between these people and the reformers, which it seems finally 
led to a compromise between the parties. After much difficulty and a 



86 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



world of trouble to mould these dissidents into conformity, a creed 
was made, ratified and confirmed in 1533, and those Waldensean 
brethren became allied with the reformers and ceased re-baptizing. 
In a short time it became widely announced by the reformers that 
the Waldensean creed had ever been in unison with the reformers. 
Calvin, who, in 1534, began to preach the reforming doctrines, was 
found in his views more in accordance with the sentiments of the 
Sacramentarians or Anabaptists than Luther. His views over- 
threw all ceremonies, says Mezeray, and consequently the Wal- 
denses left Luther's orthodoxy for communion with the reformed 
churches under Calvin. Some of those churches, or state communi- 
ties under Calvin, amounted in a few years to ten thousand members 
in each, but whether infants are included or not, is not expressed. 
If not, it proves the vast numbers received into Calvin's connection, 
of those persons who had for ages sustained non-conformity. From 
this period all dissenters from the Catholic Church were called 
Lutherans in France and other provinces, though improperly. Some 
called them Sacramentarians, because they denied the real presence, 
but in 1560 they were called Huguenots, because they held their 
assemblies at midnight, at a gate called Hugon, or rather, because of 
their being in league with each other. Orchard's Hist., p. 286. 

Agreeably to the reformers' advice, the Waldenses opened again 
their place of worship, and their ministers appeared openly as teach- 
ers of the people, adopting all laudable means to resuscitate their 
drooping communities, but this bold and commendable effort being 
reported to the Duke of Savoy, awakened his displeasure. It see-cms 
that their connection with the reformers gave them no better repute 
with the party in power than they possessed before. It was now 
but too apparent that the hitherto tolerant Dukes listened to and 
heeded the proposals and overtures of the Court of Rome. The 
Sovereign of Savoy raised an army to suppress the dissenters in 
those places over which his predecessors had for eight centuries 
extended their protection. The army surprised the people, but 
recovering from the panic, each left his employ, and by means of 
slings and stones, they compelled the army to retire without booty. 
From this defeat the Duke gave them up to all the cruelties of the 
inquisition. Jones' Lect., vol. '2. An Observantine monk, preach- 
ing one day at Imola, told the people that it behooved them to pur- 
chase heaven by the merit of their good works. A boy who was 
present exclaimed, " That is blasphemy ! for the Bible tells us that 
Christ purchased heaven by his sufferings and death, and bestows it 
on us freely by his mercy." A dispute ensued of considerable 
length between them. The preacher, provoked at the pertinent 
replies of his juvenile opponent and at the favorable reception the 
audience gave them, " Get you gone," exclaimed the monk, " you 
are just come from the cradle, and will you take it upon you to 
judge of sacred things, which the most learned can not explain?" 
" Did you never read these words, ' out of the mouth of babes and 






DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 87 



sucklings, God perfects praise/ " rejoined the youth ; upon which 
the preacher quit the pulpit in great confusion, breathing out threat- 
enings against the poor boy, who was instantly thrown into prison, 
" where he still lies," says the writer. Dec. 31, 1544. 

In 1561, these dissenters sustained another fierce and formidable 
attack, but they again defeated their opponents. Calvin and Beze, 
on hearing of these good people's distresses, obtained a liberal 
supply from various sources, to meet their temporary wants. Such 
were the accessions to the reformed churches, that in 1571, the year 
before the great massacre, they amounted to 2,150, and some 
churches contained 10,000 members. Though the reformed churches 
embraced a great portion of the Waldenses, after infinite pains had 
been taken to reconcile their minds to the reformers' sentiments, and 
then, says Robinson, " equal pains were taken to prove that they had 
always subsisted in the uniform orthodoxy of the reformed church ; 
yet all the Vaudois did not yield their faith to the mandates of hier- 
archists. There were some remains of the Vaudois, or Poor of Lyons, 
in the valleys of Dauphine, who had pastors and held their assem- 
blies apart; they were a little independent republic, as well for 
matters of religion as for government." The Pope caused this 
abode of happiness to be stormed, and the Vaudois were destroyed 
or driven out of those valleys. Many of whom that were banished 
from the soil had never heard the name of Luther, and down to 
1630, some retained their puritanical views. Jones' Ch. Hist., vol. 
2. Mosh. Hist., vol. 3, p. 295. 

It seems, on tracing the history of the Waldenses, that they were 
not confined to the valleys of Piedmont ; but that many of them 
resided in France, Spain, and other provinces. And when speaking 
of the Waldenses in the valleys conforming to Luther's doctrines, 
and associating themselves with his followers for a time, and 
many of whom afterwards joined Calvin because his views, in 
many respects, were nearer their own, we are not to understand that 
all the Waldenses in the valleys conformed, or that any por- 
tion of some of the valleys conformed, for it seems that there 
were quite a number of the valleys in that country that were densely 
populated by those people. We have just recorded the fact that in 
1590, some of the Vaudois that were driven from the valleys of 
Dauphine, had never heard the name of Luther. We shall now 
show, from the following historical sketches, that many of them, in 
large bodies, did not conform until near the end of the seventeenth 
century — if they ever did. 

In 1544, over ten years after the union of the Waldenses with 
Luther, in their confession of faith given by Sleiden are the 
following sentiments : 

Art. 7. We believe in the ordinance baptism ; the water is the 
visible and external sign, which represents to us that which, by 
virtue of God's invisible operation is within us, namely, the reno- 
vation of our minds and the mortification of our members through 



88 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



(the faith of) Jesus Christ, and by these ordinances we are received 
into the holy congregation of God's people, previously professing 
and declaring our faith and change of life. Evan Mag., for 1819, p. 
505. Jones' Ch. Hist., vol. 2, 65, p. 59, etc. 

In 1560, Cardinal Hossius, who presided at the Council of Trent, 
and wrote a history of the heresy of his own times, says the Wal- 
denses rejected infant baptism and re-baptized all who embraced 
their sentiments. In his letters, Apud Opera, pp. 112, 1123. Bap. 
Mag., vol. 14, p. 53. We here have testimony that the Waldenses 
opposed infant baptism near thirty years after, it is said, they con- 
formed to Luther's faith and practice, which shows conclusively that 
all of them did not conform. • 

Besides, it is stated of those who did conform, that they had not 
a translation of the Bible until they received it of Luther; when 
it is stated that the followers of Waldo, when driven from their 
homes under a decree of the authorities of France, fled into the val- 
leys of Piedmont, and took with them the new translation of the 
Bible. This took place in the latter part of the twelfth century. 

These discrepancies are easily accounted for ; the Waldenses had 
become scattered, and dwelt in different kingdoms and countries, 
still bearing the same name ; and no doubt some of them conformed, 
while others adhered to their ancient faith and practice. It seems 
that all the branches of the Church of Antichrist desired a state 
religion ; and infant baptism has always been the stepping stone for 
its accomplishment. 

As we have come down seventy years into the Reformation, we 
shall continue our narrative of the Waldenses down to the year 
1800, as it will be more satisfactory to the reader. It is not the 
design of this work to record all the persecutions and sufferings of 
the advocates of truth, any further than necessary in giving their 
faith and practice. But suffice it to say, that during the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries, their sufferings were greater than unin- 
flamed humanity can conceive of, which, as a general thing, they 
bore with much Christian fortitude. In 1655, the magnitude of 
their sufferings was so great, that they awakened all the Protestant 
Princes of Europe; and Oliver Cromwell, on hearing of their per- 
secutions, rose like a lion from the lair, and Sir Samuel Moreland 
was deputed by him to visit the valley, to intercede with their 
oppressors and to render such aid as would relieve their present 
wants. By way of exhibiting the reasons of their choice in divine 
things, the inoffensiveness of their lives and doctrine, and to enlist 
the Protestants in their favor, as well as disarm the enemies of any 
grounds for misrepresentation, they published a confession of their 
faith, from which the following articles are taken : 

Art. 25. That the Church is a company of the faithful, who, 
having been elected before the foundation of the world, and called 
with a holy calling, come to unite themselves to follow the word of 
God, believing whatsoever he teacheth them, and living in his fear. 



DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 89 



Art. 26. And that all the elect are upheld and preserved by the 
power of God in such sort that they all persevere in the faith unto 
the end, and remain united in the holy Church, as so many living 
members thereof. 

Art. 28. That God doth not only instruct and teach us by his 
word, but has also ordained certain sacraments to be joined with it, 
as means to unite us unto Christ, and to make us partakers of his 
benefits; and that there are only two of them belonging in common 
to all the members of the Church under the New Testament, to wit, 
baptism and the Lord's Supper. 

Art. 29. That God hath ordained the sacrament of baptism to 
be a testimony of our adoption, and of our being cleansed from our 
sins by the blood of Christ and renewed in holiness of life. 

It is pleasing to discover a remnant of the Vaudois, still witness- 
ing, as their ancestors had done, the faith and practice of the gospel, 
though it is not in our power to say to what extent Churches sup- 
porting the above views then existed. In 1685, Oct. 8, the edict of 
Nantes was repealed, by which act no toleration could be allowed to 
dissenters from the Catholic Church. 

Fifteen days were allowed to Protestant ministers to leave the 
kingdom ; two millions of persons were condemned by this instru- 
ment and banished from their native soil. This cruel instrument 
ruined the Protestant Churches, and freed France and other king- 
doms from the witnesses of the truth. If any remained it was at 
the peril of life and liberty; yet some braved the danger, and wor- 
shiped unseen and unheard by the malicious foes. Pious females, 
shrouded by the darkness of night, bent their way through great 
danger towards the spot assigned for their religious services ; a 
dark lantern guided their perilous steps. Arriving at the selected 
spot amidst the rocks, two walki ig sticks hastily stuck in the 
ground and covered with a black silk apron of the female auditors, 
formed what was called the pulpit of the desert. To such an assem- 
bly, how eloquent must have appeared the lessons of that preacher 
who braved death at every word he uttered ; how impressive that 
service, the attending of which insured the penalty of fetters for 
life — they counted not their lives, dear unto themselves, but sacri- 
ficed them freely for the cause of their blessed Redeemer. These 
were the glorious days of Baptists in France; these were their 
proudest triumphs; the Church could boast of valor of which the 
world was not worthy. Here martyrs then bore testimony to their 
faith at the fatal tree, or were chained for life to the oar of the gal- 
leys; and women with the same noble feelings, in the same sacred 
cause, shrunk not from perpetual imprisonment in the gloomy tower 
that overhangs the shores of the Mediterranean. 

The severity of the measures used by the armies of France and 
Savoy exceeded this year the cruelties of 1655. The Swiss Cantons 
sent deputies to the Duke of Savoy, who, now tired with human car- 
nage, at their entreaty set open the prison doors, and those who sur- 



90 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



vived were ordered to leave in peace. The Swiss government, not 
being able to procure of France or Savoy any toleration for the 
Waldenses Huguenots, led Henry Arnold and about four hundred 
of these exiles, in 1689, to try to recover their native land by the 
sword. These men did suffer much of a marvelous character, and 
after fighting and much suffering were permitted to settle on their 
native soil. Orchard's Hist., pp. 292, 293; Cloud's Comp. Dr. Gil- 
ley's Nar. and Bap. Mag., vol. 8, p. 89, A. D. 1816; Jones' Lect., 
vol. 2, p. 644. How long these people maintained their integrity in 
the faith of the gospel we have no means at hand of knowing; and 
whether they conformed to tenets of Luther or Calvin, and lost their 
identity by immerging into the reformed Churches in after times, 
seems to be uncertain. That many people called Waldenses finally 
conformed so far as to have their children sprinkled, is not doubted. 

We here resume the history of the German and Dutch Baptists in 
1500. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Catholic Church 
considered themselves secure in their power, both in Church and 
State, and were, from time to time, gratifying their blood-thirsty 
and restless spirits in the persecution of the true followers of the 
Lamb. And little did the people of Germany think that a crisis 
was at hand when the Pope of Rome should receive a deadly 
wound. The God of heaven had been preparing the materials and 
paving the way for this great event many years before its consum- 
mation, in sending such men as Wickliife, Huss, Jerome, Henry, 
and others, to prepare the way for the great battle. The exposing of 
the errors of the Catholic Church and the corruptions of the priest- 
hood! by those learned and pious men, no doubt affected the minds 
of thousands of the laity who never made it publicly known for 
fear of the authorities, and those who died before the time of 
reformation, left those impressions indellibly written on the minds 
of their rising posterity; that when the proper time had come, they 
were ready to act their part in the great contest — the Lord of Hosts 
had ordered it so. 

We have given a hasty sketch of the history of the Puritans 
through several nations and under various names, and shall by these 
records have proved, at the Reformation, that the Baptists have 
been the only Christian community which has stood since the days 
of the Apostles, and as a Christian society which has preserved pure 
the doctrines of the Gospel through all ages. These Churches we 
shall find perpetuated in a few veins under Men no Simon's fostering 
care, whose creed will speak their affinity to the Vaudois, and 
though many, in claiming relation to these people, have disputed 
some things in their practice, none ever denied that they baptized 
only adults on a profession of their faith, before they were received 
into communion. The people holding Baptist principles at this 
time in Germany were called Picards, who, by their itinerating, had 
been successful in bringing persons of all classes over to their views 
and community from the Catholic Church. But their conduct in 



DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 91 



re-baptizing was the great cause of offense ; the anger of the Catho- 
lic priesthood was aroused and measures were proposed to stay the 
growing evil. Consequently, in 1510, the clergy and bishops pre- 
vailed on the sovereign to use means equal to the emergency; 
whereupon an edict was made, that all the Picards, without distinc- 
tion of sex, age or quality, should be executed. The influence of 
some noblemen prevailed for its suspension for eighteen months, but 
the edict received the sanction of government at the expiration of 
that time, yet the interposition of Providence prevented its full exe- 
cution. The threatening aspect of affairs in Germany suggested to 
these persecuted people the necessity of emigrating; and Mosheim 
asserts " that the German Baptists passed in shoals into Holland and 
the Netherlands, and in the course of time amalgamated with the 
Dutch Baptists." The drooping spirits of these people, says the 
same writer, who had been dispersed through many countries, and 
persecuted everywhere with the greatest severity, were revived when 
they heard that Luther, seconded by several persons of eminent 
piety, had successfully attempted the reformation of , the' Church. 
Consequently several persons, holding Baptist views, made their 
appearance at the same time, in different countries; this appears 
from a variety of circumstances, especially from this striking one, 
that all the Baptist ministers of any note and eminence, were, be- 
fore the Reformation, almost all heads and leaders of particular and 
separate congregations. The situation of the Baptists, in these 
►times, makes it apparent that they obscured their profession in 
these troublous times as much as prudence would dictate, before 
the Reformation, after which time they became more bold and public 
in their devotional exercises. Many of them yet thought it possi- 
ble, by human wisdom, industry and vigilance, to purify the Romish 
Church from the contagion of the man of sin, provided the practice 
and spirit of primitive Christianity could be exercised and con- 
trasted with the* Romish corruptions, and the progress of Luther's 
reforming measures seemed to indicate the success of this desirable 
object. Consequently, they hoped the happy period was arrived in 
which the restoration of Rome to purity was to be accomplished, 
under the divine protection, by the labor and counsels of pious and 
eminent men. Orchard's Hist., p. 341. The people of different 
nations and provinces had become tired of the* Roman yoke and 
priestly domination, and were prepared to countenance any system 
of reform that seemed to promise success. Luther had boldly step- 
ped forward and set tyranny at defiance, and was looked up to as the 
champion and leader in the great cause. To further the work, he 
published the New Testament in German, wrote letters to the sover- 
eigns of Europe, broke with the Pope, and severed his allegiance 
with the Roman hierarchy, and used all his energies in propelling 
forward the work of reformation. To these efforts he added a work 
on Christian Liberty in the German language, which was read with 



92 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



the most astonishing avidity, and the contents were communicated 
to those who could not read. 

In this work Luther speaks of what he calls spiritual liberty, that 
is, the freedom of the spirit or mind in matters of religion; and he 
assigns the causes of bondage to sins, laws and mandates, which 
naturally mean our sinful passions, the laws of magistrates, and the 
canons of the Church. Hob. Res., p. 510. Thess had a tendency 
to bring all persons who desired reform to the support of Luther's 
cause. The Pope became alarmed at the aspect of things, and de- 
nounced Luther as a heretic; and he, nobly, on Dec. 10, 1520, had 
a pile of wood erected without the walls of Wittemburg, and there, 
in the presence of a prodigious multitude of all ranks and orders of 
people, committed to the flames both the bull that had been pub- 
lished against him and the decretals and canons relating to the 
Pope's supreme jurisdiction. By this act Luther publicly declared 
to the world that he was no longer a subject to the Roman Pontiff. 
These bold and daring acts of the reformer flew like the wind to 
different provinces, and aroused a gleam of hope in the down- 
trodden and oppressed advocates of truth that the time of their 
release was drawing near. They did not wait to inquire after 
Luther's sentiments in detail, but considered it their duty to iden- 
tify themselves with the reformer in the good work; and that if the 
Pope and clergy could be shorn of their power, that the great object 
would be attained and minor matters could be adjusted afterwards. 
The boldness of Luther's course caused him to be called to Worms 
by Charles V, where he boldly and nobly advocated and plead his 
own cause, but was condemned, and to prevent his sustaining any 
injury Frederick caused him to be arrested and conveyed privately 
to the eastle of Wartenburg, where he divided his time between 
writing and hunting. Orchard's Hist., p. 343. Luther's translation 
of the New Testament, at this time, was of great benefit to the scat- 
tered brethren; for, agreeable to their views, he translated Matthew 
iii : 1 — " In those days came John the Dipper." Other parts of his 
writings were in perfect accordance with this sentiment. Rob. Hist. 
Bap., p. 545. After things became more tranquil, and Luther rather 
an exile, many learned and noted men who had been prompt in act- 
ing with him were still preaching the reforming doctrines, among 
whom were Carolostadias, Melancthon and Muncer. As the time 
had now come when the tenets of Luther could be investigated, the 
Baptists soon found they were not in accordance with their own. 
Orchard, in speaking of this subject, says (in allusion to Luther): 
In pursuing this course and practicing only believers' baptism, 
these reformers were consistent as they professed to take the Scrip- 
tures for their guidance. Luther's views and writings supported 
such a procedure, since he declared: " It can not be proved by the 
Scriptures that infant baptism was instituted by Christ or began 
by the first Christians after the Apostles." Nearly all the reformers 
expressed themselves in similar language about baptism ; besides all 






DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 93 



the Puritans, whose support to the cause of reform was desirable, 
held these views on the ordinance. The reformers gave very con- 
siderable support to the Baptists in these measures. Luther had no 
great objection to the Baptists in his early efforts. He encouraged 
the Muncer of notoriety, who was a Baptist minister, and so highly 
esteemed by Luther as to be named his Absalom; their united 
efforts greatly increased persons of the Baptist persuasion. When 
the news reached Luther of Carolostadt re-baptizing, that Muncer 
had won the hearts of the people, and that the reformation was 
going on in his absence, he, on the 6th of March, 1522, flew like 
lightning from his confinement, at the hazard of his life and without 
the advice of his patron, to put a stop to Carolostadt's proceedings. 
On his return to Wittemburg he banished Carolostadt, Pelargas, 
More, Didymus and others, and only received Melancthon again. 

When some of Luther's assistants went into Bohemia and Mo- 
ravia, they complained that between Baptists and Papists they were 
very much straightened, though they grew among them like lilies 
among thorns. The success and number of the Baptists exasperated 
him to the last degree, and he became their enemy, notwithstanding 
all he had said in favor of dipping while he contended with Catho- 
lics on the sufficiency of God's word, but now he persecuted them 
under the name of re-dippers, re-baptizers or Anabaptists. One 
thing troubled Luther, and he took no pains to conceal it, that was 
a jealousy lest any competitor should step forward and put into 
execution that plan of reformation which he had laid out. This 
was foible; he fell out with Carolostadt, he disliked Calvin, he found 
fault with Zuinglius, who were all supported by great patrons, and 
he was angry beyond measure with the Baptists. His half meas- 
ures, his national system, his using the Roman liturgy, his consub- 
stantiation, his infant baptism, without Scripture or example, were 
disliked by the Baptist; yea, the Picards or Vaudois hated his sys- 
tem and he hated all other sects. The violence of Luther sunk his 
cause into that of a party. The reformers differed as much among 
themselves about the ordinances as they did from others, and their 
spirit and contention subsided into acts of persecution and reproach. 
But Mosheim remarks, "there were certain sects and doctors against 
whom the zeal, vigilance and severity of Catholics, Lutherians and 
Calvinists were united. The objects of their common aversion were 
the Anabaptists." To avoid the unhappy consequences of such a 
formidable opposition, great numbers retired into Poland, hoping to 
find a refuge where they formed congregations." Mosh. Hist., pp. 
3, 363, 293. 

The word Anabaptism is expressive of the practice of those who 
re-baptized such persons who came from one of their sects to 
another, or as often as any one is excluded from their communion 
and again baptized on being re-admitted in their fellowship, as 
Cyprian and the Church at Carthage practiced in the third century. 
If the party baptizing disallow the first ceremony as unscriptural, 



94 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



the repetition of the act, guided by Apostolic authority, is not re- 
baptization but Christian baptism. The word was used more for 
the purpose of stigmatizing aud reproaching the Baptists than any- 
thing else. A full history of these people is exceeding difficult to 
write, as we have to depend almost entirely upon their enemies for 
the materials to compose it. Mosheim admits and says, "the true 
origin of the Baptist denomination, who espoused the cause or the 
Menonite views and who acquired the stigma of Anabaptists by 
administering anew the right of baptism to those who come over to 
their community, is hid in the remotest depths of antiquity. We 
here quote from Orchard. Of all the teachers of religion in Ger- 
many at this period, the Baptists best understood the doctrine of 
civil and religious liberty; to them, therefore, the oppressed boors, 
as has been observed, looked for counsel. Tyranny of Catholics 
and Lutherians was equal in everything except extent. Luther 
never pretended to dissent from the Church, he only proposed to 
disown the Pope, but in this partial conduct and mope-eyed device 
all could not see with him. Among the Baptists, one of the most 
eminent was Thomas Muncer, of Mulhausen, in Thuringia. He 
had been a priest, but became a disciple of Luther and a favorite 
with the reformed. This dear son Luther named his Absalom, and 
the people so highly approved of him as to call him Luther's curate. 
He appears to have itinerated and labored principally in Saxony. 
While Luther was hunting, writing and regaling himself with 
princes, Muncer was preaching in the country and surveying the 
condition of their tenants. He saw their miserable bondage, and 
that from Luther's plan of reform there was no probability of free- 
dom flowing to the people. He (Luther) only intended to free the 
priests from obedience to the Pope, and to enable the officers of 
government to tyrannize over the people in the name of civil magis- 
trates. Muncer saw this policy aud remonstrated against it. Luther 
broke loose from his recluse, and dealt severely with those who 
•dared in his absence to advance the cause differently to his plan. 
With Carolostadt he was severe, but Muncer was banished for his 
crime of remonstrance. Muncer now traveled into various parts, 
preaching doctrines highly acceptable to the lower orders. He set- 
tled at Mulhausen and was there when the peasants rose. It is very 
probable he now embraced the sentiments of the Baptists, seeing his 
instruction to the people was much on the nature of religious liberty 
and illustrative of the errors of Catholicism and Lutherianism, 
which he represents as carrying things to the extreme without em- 
bracing the liberty purchased by the death of Christ. His instruc- 
tions conveyed that a Christian Church ought to consist of virtuous 
persons and not as Luther taught to include whole parishes. On 
these principles he formed a Church, A. D. 152*3, and advised the 
members of it to make use of retirement, meditation and prayer, to 
consider the several points of religion for themselves. The peasants 
relished his doctrine well and repaired to Mulhausen in vast num- 



DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 95 



bers to be instructed and comforted by Muncer. Robinson's Res., 
pp. 546, 8. 

Plere was Muncer's crime, and, as Voltaire remarks, Luther had 
been successful in stirring up the princes, nobles and magistrates of 
German}' against the Pope and bishops, Muncer stirred up the peas- 
ants against them. He and his companions went about addressing 
themselves to the inhabitants of the country villages in Saubia, 
Misnia, Thuringia and Franconia. They laid open that dangerous 
truth which is implanted in every breast, that all men are born 
equal, saying that if the Popes had treated their princes like their 
subjects the princes had treated the common people like beasts. 

What Luther had said and censured about the Popes' usurpation, 
he now practiced himself towards these good men. Carolostadt he 
followed from place to place, and got him expelled wherever he 
settled. Thomas Muncer was driven in like manner, with others 
against whom Luther set himself, in writing to princes, and publish- 
ing, by which he disturbed society, and stigmatized them as image- 
breakers and Sacramentarians, or Anabaptists. On hearing of 
Muncer's success, he wrote to the magistrates of Mulhauson to 
advise them to require Muncer to give an account of his call, and 
if he could nofr-prove that he acted under human authority, then to 
insist on his proving his call from God by working a miracle ! 
Lord, what is man ? The magistrates and monks complied with 
this Lutherian bull, but the people considered this a refinement on 
cruelty, especially as coming from a man whom the Roman court 
and the diet of the Empire had loaded with curses, for no other 
crime than that of which he accused his brethren. The people now 
resented the insult ; they expelled from the city Luther's monkish 
allies, and the magistrates elected new senators, of whom Muncer 
was one! To him, as their only friend, the peasants looked for 
relief from oppression. Id., p. 548. Rob. Res., p. 551. 

The tones of authority assumed by Luther and his magisterial 
conduct towards those who differed from him made it evident that he 
would be head of the reformers. He and his colleagues had now to 
dispute their way with hosts of Baptists all over Germany, Saxony, 
Thuringia, Switzerland, and other kingdoms, for several years. Con- 
ferences on baptism were held in different kingdoms, which con- 
tinued from 1516 to 1527. The support which the Baptists had 
from Luther's writings made the reformers' efforts of little effect. 
At Zurich the Senate warned the people to desist from the practice 
of re-baptizing, but all their warnings were vain. These efforts to 
check the increase of Baptists being ineffectual, carnal measures were 
resorted to. The first edict against Anabaptism was published at 
Zurich, 1522, in which there was a penalty of a silver mark set 
upon all such as should suffer themselves to be re-baptized or should 
withhold baptism from their children. And it was further declared, 
that those who openly opposed this order should be yet more severely 
treated. This being insufficient to check immersion, the Senate 



96 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



decreed, like Honorius, 413, that all persons who professed Anabap- 
tism or harbored the professors of the doctrine should be punished 
with death by drowning. It had been death to refuse baptism, and 
now it was death to be baptized. Such is the weathercock certainty 
of state religion. In defiance of this law, the Baptists persevered 
in their regular discipline, and some ministers of learned celebrity 
realized the severity of the sentence. Many Baptists were drowned 
and burnt. These severe measures, which continued for years, had 
the consent of the reformers, which injured greatly the Lutherian 
cause. It was the cruel policy of Papacy inflicted by reformers. 
Wherever the Baptists settled, Luther played the part of a universal 
bishop and wrote to princes and senates to engage them to expel 
such dangerous men. Rob. Res., p. 543. Wall's Hist., pt. 2, 
p. 260. 

But it was their refusing to own his authority and admit his 
exposition of the Scriptures which led him to preach and publish 
books against them, taxing them with disturbing the peace. We 
have recorded that Baptists were the common objects of aversion to 
Catholics, Lutherian s and Culvinists, whose united zeal was directed 
to their destruction. So deeply were the prejudices interwoven with 
the state party that the knights, on oath, were to declare their abhor- 
rence of Anabaptism. The sentiments of these people, and which 
were so disliked by statesmen, clergy and reformers, may be stated 
under five views, viz.: " a love of civil liberty in opposition to 
magisterial dominion, an affirmation of the sufficiency and simplicity 
of revelation in opposition to scholastic theology, a zeal for self- 
government in opposition to clerical authority, a requisition of the 
reasonable service of a personal profession of Christianity rising out 
of man's own convictions in opposition to the practice of force on 
infants, the whole of which they deem superstition or enthusiasm, 
and the indispensable necessity of virtue in every individual mem- 
ber of a Christian church, in distinction from all speculative creeds, 
all rites and ceremonies and parochial divisions. These views to 
the statesman were adverse to his line of policy with his peasants ; 
to the clergy they were offensive since it placed every man on a level 
with the priesthood and sanctioned one to instruct another; to the 
reformers they were objectionable since they broke the national tie 
and allowed all persons equal liberty to think, choose and act in the 
affairs of the soul: thus these sentiments were the aversion of all. 
An edict issued by Frederick at a later period shows how unpal- 
atable these views were. His majesty expressed his astonishment 
at the number of Anabaptists, and his horror at the principal error 
which they embraced, which was, that according to the express 
delaration of the holy Scriptures (1 Cor., vii : 23,) they were to sub- 
mit to no human authority. He adds that his conscience compeled 
him to proscribe them and accordingly he banished them from his 
dominions on pain of death. Rob. Res., p. 525. Ecc. Hist., vol. 
3, p. 320, 327. 



DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 97 



This maxim is a true source of the peculiarities of the Baptists, 
says Mosheim, that the visible church was exempted from all those 
institutions which human prudence suggested; but this view of 
religion the state and the reformed could not receive. 

During the contentions and disputations of the reformers and 
others, the peasants of Suabia groaned, in 1524, under their hard 
servitude and resolved to seize the first opportunity to get free. In 
the November following they revolted. The news flew all over 
Germany, and awakened restless feelings in the plebians throughout 
the empire. The lords of the soil and the gentry entered into a 
confederacy and agreed to suppress them, and Furstenburg, in the 
name of the confederates, went to inquire into their grievances. They 
informed him they were Catholics, that they had not risen on any 
religious account and that they required nothing but a release from 
their intolerable secular oppression and under which they had long 
groaned and which they neither could nor would any longer bear. 
Others required relief from the oppression of abbots. The ensuing 
spring offered to others, who had more reason to complain than the 
preceding boors, an opportunity to leave their work and such assem- 
bled in different provinces to the amount of three hundred thousand 
men. The doctrine of liberty had been advocated by all the reform- 
ers while pointing to the usurped claims of the Pope, but none 
understood or carried out this liberty into practice but the Baptists ; 
consequently all eyes were, in this crisis, directed to Muncer, who 
now drew up a memorial expressive of their grievances and which 
was presented to their lords and dispersed all over Germany. It 
consists of twelve articles on civil and religious liberty. It is 
allowed to be a masterpiece of the kind and Voltaire says, " a 
Lycurgus would have signed it." 

These tenets, which all persons professedly love, are still held 
forth in the views and writings of Pedo-Baptists of these times as 
the damnable Anabaptistical errors ; but where dwelt the advocate 
of real liberty and where could this boon of Paradise have been 
found if there had been no Anabaptists ? This was the head and 
front of their offending and on this ground alone they were every- 
where spoken against. 

In this instrument there is no heretic but a tyrant, nothing pro- 
posed to be hated but the feudal system, and liberty is the only 
orthodoxy. This memorial, when compared with the creed of Aus- 
burg, will create feelings of reverence in the collator for the mild 
justice of Muncer and his memorialists. It is the doom of the poor 
to be aspersed. Prov. xiv : 20. At the close of the memorial the 
peasants appealed to Luther. He told them the princes deserved 
dethroning, yet their tumults were seditious and that they had been 
seduced by false teachers; that it was foolish to put all mankind 
upon a level, and that Abraham had slaves. He wrote to the 
princes and taxed them with having caused all the present ills by 
their excess of tyranny, and accuses them of saying that his doc- 
7 



98 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



trine had been the cause of all this disturbance, threatening them 
with all the vengeance of heaven if they persisted in their cruelty. 
The third publication was addressed to both princes and peasants, 
advising both parties to settle their disputes and be at peace for the 
public good of Germany. These advices being disregarded he drew 
up a fourth, addressed to the princes, in which he conjures them to 
unite all their force to suppress sedition and to destroy all who 
resisted government, i. e., oppression and slavery. These oppressed 
men were consequently met by their lords with a sword instead of 
redresses; being defeated they were slaughtered and reproached, the 
invariable result and concomitants of defeat; Muncer, their friend 
and chief, was put to death. Mosh. Hist., 3, pp. 51, 22. 

All men condemned Luther for these murdering proposals, but in 
order to relieve himself he made the devoted people the scape-goat; 
he and his colleagues imputed the crimes of the empire to the Ana- 
baptists, and so escaped ! ! ! From the breaking out of the rustic 
war the empire continued to be in an unsettled state. The first 
rising, says Sleiden, was among persons of the Papist communion; 
the tumults did not originate on the subject of religion, but from 
secular exactions. Religious liberty had been learned by many from 
Luther's work, which caused many to seek both civil and religious 
freedom. The twelve articles expressive of their grievances, which 
Magnadearta they had not power to enforce, comprehended, says 
Oriender, persons of all persuasions. Had Muncer succeeded in 
procuring liberty for the German peasants, ten thousand tongues 
would have celebrated his praise in different ages; devotions would 
have been rendered to him as to Titus; Flaminius and many others 
would have vied with each other in crowning his memory with 
unfading honors. The sight of such an achievement would have 
been unequaled only by Runnymede, and its honors more perma- 
nent and glorious than those of Xasby field. All this occurred ten 
years before the affair of Minister. It was not, therefore, an affair 
about baptism, but the feudal system; it was not water, it was the 
government that was the question, and the Baptists had the glory 
of first setting the reformed an example of getting rid of tyranny. 
The routed and scattered remains of this vast body of men sowed in 
the different countries and provinces the seed of discontent, which, 
after keeping the empire in a feverish state for some years, ulti- 
mately led to some redress. Rob. Res., p. 544, etc. 

From the views of the Baptists held on civil and religious liberty, 
and the memorial of the peasants' grievances being drawn up by 
one of that body and approved by all, which memorial struck at the 
root of the lords' tyranny, occasioned great jealousy in the minds 
of princes and occasioned their attention and displeasure to be con- 
stantly directed toward them. Some emigrated to England where 
their circumstances were not improved. Erasmus said of this peo- 
ple (1529): "The Anabaptists (in Switzerland,) although they are 
very numerous, have no church in their possession. These persons 



DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 99 



are worthy of greater commendations than others on account of the 
harmlessness of their lives. But they are oppressed by all other 
sects." When Frederick, in 1532, conferred privileges on the Ger- 
man Protestants, he exempted the Baptists. In 1533, a reward of 
twelve guilders was promised to any person who should apprehend 
any Anabaptistical teacher, and harboring them was forbidden. 
They were, says Dr. Robertson, this year (1534) watched so closely 
by the magistrates as to find it necessary to emigrate into other 
parts. Their religious liberties being destroyed, their views under 
the greatest reproach, their lives and property liable to injury, 
before Munster affray, will show their critical situation and account 
for their succumbing conduct to the reformers at this period. It 
only wanted some local commotion to involve such suspected sub- 
jects in ruin. The brethren in different parts had sent to the 
reformers desiring their countenance and support. Erasmus gen- 
teelly declined. Luther did not like them; he reproached them 
with Anabaptism. The reformers, taking the advantage of the 
depressed situation of the brethren in Germany, urged the pro- 
priety of their releasing themselves from their oppression by a con- 
junction with the reformers, of which at length they were but too 
successful. Re-baptism seemed to be the only bar, to which it 
seems the brethren, for the sake of peace, finally conceded rather 
than suffer the penalty of the laws, or leave their homes and seek 
refuge where toleration was doubtful. The conjunction caused great 
rejoicing with the reformers, and Luther himself modified his tem- 
per and spake in high praise of the brethren, while Commenius says 
"the pious wept." It is reasonable to suppose that those who did 
not conform to Luther or Calvin's interests led an obscure life, and 
kept their religious sentiments to themselves as thousands had done 
before the Reformation. The trials and persecutions of those days 
were fires and furnaces well calculated to purify the gold. 

In 1532, the city of Munster, in Westphalia, became the site of 
great tumult and disorder. One Bernard Rotman, a Pedo-Baptist 
minister of the Lutheran persuasion, assisted by other ministers of 
the. Reformation, began the disturbance at Munster in opposing the 
Papists. Spanheim and Orean&er say that the first stir in this city 
of Munster was about the Protestant religion, when the synod and 
ministers opposed the Papists with arms before any Anabaptists 
came. 

It is easy to account for the enthusiasm of an oppressed people 
under circumstances like unto that of Munster. No doubt many 
persons who had been down-trodden by oppression, and admiring 
the principles of religious freedom as advocated by the Baptists, 
had, for the sake of that principle and the hatred they had for the 
power that afflicted them, attached themselves to the Baptist cause; 
and when they saw the peasants of Munster and of the Pedo party 
making a struggle to throw off the yoke of bondage, they flew to 
their assistance and carried their zeal to madness, and done many 



100 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



things that were unwise and which were disapproved by the great 
body of Baptists. Cassander, a Papist, declares that many Anabap- 
tists in Germany did resist and oppose the opinions and practices of 
those at Munster and held the contrary doctrines. Nevertheless, as 
they were to a man for civil and religious freedom, and at the same 
time opposed to Luther's articles, the severest laws were enacted 
against them the second time, in consequence of which the innocent 
and guilty were alike involved in the terrible fate and prodigious 
numbers were devoted to death in the same dreadful forms. In 
almost all the countries of Europe an unspeakable number of Bap- 
tists preferred death in its worst forms, says Mosheim, to a retrac- 
tion of their sentiments. Mosheim again says that many Baptists 
suffered death, not on account of their being considered rebellious 
subjects but merely because they were judged to be incurable here- 
tics; for in this century the error of limiting the administration of 
baptism to adult persons only, and the practice of re-baptizing such 
as had received that sacrament in a state of infancy, were looked 
upon as most flagitious and intolerable heresies. Ivimey's Hist., 
vol. 1, p. 309; Mosh. Hist., vol. 3, p. 79. 

Our historians say this was a gloomy time with the Baptists. On 
the one hand they saw with sorrow all their hopes of liberty blasted 
by the ravages of Munster, and on the other they were filled with 
anxious apprehensions of the peril that threatened them on all sides. 
In this critical situation they derived much comfort and assistance 
from the counsels and zeal of Menno Simon. Mosh. Hist., c. 16, 
vol. 3, pp. 2, 7. 

It is no longer a matter of doubt that many persons of learning 
and ability, of the Baptist persuasion and views, existed on the 
continent long before the appearance of Munster blackened their 
escutcheon, and the characters of those people have awakened 
admiration in men of distinguished parts, and who have left testi- 
monies of their piety which may be brought into comparison with 
any denomination of the present age. Among their admirers may 
be found the names of Commenius, Scultetus, Beza, Cloppenburg, 
Cassander, Erasmus, Heyden, Hoorebeck, Cocceius and Cardinal 
Hossius. The latter says: "If the truth of religion were to be 
judged of by the readiness and cheerfulness which a man of any 
sect shows in suffering, then the opinions and persuasions of no sect 
can be truer or surer than those of the Anabaptists, since there has 
been none for those twelve hundred years past that have been more 
grieviously punished. Bap. Mag., vol 10, p. 401. 

Menno was born at Witmarsum, in Friesland, A. D. 1496. He 
was educated for a priest, and entered the Church in the character 
of a minister in 1524. He had no acquaintance with the sacred 
volume at this time, nor would he touch it because of its sacredness. 
At the end of three years, on celebrating Mass, he became scrupu- 
lous about transubstantiation, but attributed the impression to the 
devil. No moral change was effected; he spent his time in dissipat- 



DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 101 



ing amusements, yet he was not easy in bis mind. His impressions 
were such as to cause him to resolve on perusing the New Testament. 

In reading this volume his mind became enlightened and all at 
once he became a Gospel preacher. He saw and exposed the error 
of Popery, without being charged with heresy or fanaticism. The 
reason perhaps was, that he had not attached himself to any other 
order of people. Menno, on witnessing the constancy of one Sicke 
Snyden, who was beheaded at Louarden, because he was a re-bap- 
tizer and opposed the corruptions of the Catholic Church, was led 
to investigate the subject of baptism. Menno could not find infant 
baptism in the Bible, and on consulting a minister of that persua- 
sion a concession was made that it had no foundation in the Bible. 
Not willing to yield, he consulted other celebrated reformers, but all 
these he found to be at variance as to the grounds of the prac- 
tice ; consequently he became confirmed that the Baptists were suf- 
fering for truth's sake. On studying the Scriptures, convictions of 
his lost condition became deepened, and he found God required sin- 
cerity and decision. He now sought new spiritual friends, and 
finding the Baptists' practice in accordance with his views of the 
Scriptures he became one of their community. Menno was baptized 
by immersion, as he confessed that we shall find no other baptism 
besides dipping in water, which is acceptable to God and maintained 
in His word. Menno had the full confidence of his brethren and 
served as a teacher and a leader among the Baptists for twenty-five 
years. His trials and privations were very great; he was forced 
from one country to another to escape the cruelty of his enemies. 
But the Divine hand protected him, and wherever he went he sowed 
the seeds of truth and his ministry was wonderfully blessed wherever 
he went. East and West Friesland, together with the province of 
Groningen, were first visited by this zealous apostle of the Baptists ; 
from thence he directed his course into Holland, Gelderland, Bra- 
bant and Westphalia, continuing it through the German provinces 
that lie on the coast of the Baltic sea, and protracted so far as Livo- 
nia. In all these places, his ministrations were attended with 
remarkable success and added to his denomination a prodigious 
number. 

Mr. Wall says, " Those who continued in the Netherlands became 
very numerous, and realized at length liberty for religious worship." 
This liberty granted to the Baptists in Holland would point out to 
the suffering brethren under Elizabeth's iron hand a suitable and 
providential asylum from English tyranny ; consequently we find 
several Englishmen of note, with many others, availing themselves 
of the opportunity and privilege at the conclusion of this century. 
The severity of Elizabeth's measures having exiled all the dis- 
senting ministers, the persecutors of the Baptists in after times 
became more lenient and they found it necessary to send to Holland 
for a regular administration of believers' baptism. They deputed 
Mr. Blount, who understood the Dutch language, to visit Amster- 



102 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



dam. He was kindly received by the church in that city and their 
pastor, Mr. John Battle. He received ordination and on his return 
he baptized Mr. Samuel Blacklock, a minister, and these baptized 
the rest of the company, 53 in number. Ireimey's Hist., vol. 1, 
p. 143. 

We have given the history of our brethren much more in detail 
during the sixteenth century, so that our denomination may be 
released from the charge of being swallowed up in the reforming 
sentiments of Luther and Calvin during this century. ; yet we have 
omitted many important items of their history, fearing we. might 
take up too much space. 

I intended closing the history of the sixteenth century at the end 
of the last paragraph, but on examining some other works I find 
some interesting accounts of the progress of the Baptists in England. 
We quote from Introductory Essay to Orchard's Hist., by Graves. 

About fifty years before the birth of our Saviour the Romans 
invaded the British isles, in the reign of the Welsh King, Cassibil- 
lion, but having failed in consequence of other and more important 
wars, to conquer the Welsh nation, made peace with them and dwelt 
among them many years. During that period many of the Welsh 
soldiers joined the Roman army and many families from AVales 
visited Rome, among whom there was a certain woman of the name 
of Claudia, who was married to a man named Pudance. At the 
same time (about A. D. 63) Paul was sent a prisoner to Rome, and 
preached in his own hired house for the space of two years. Pu- 
dance and Claudia his wife, who belonged to Caesar's household, 
under the blessing of God and Paul's preaching, were brought to 
the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus and made a profession 
of the Christian religion. These, together with other Welch men 
among the Roman soldiers, who had tasted that the Lord was gra- 
cious, exerted themselves on the behalf of their countrymen in 
Wales, who were at that time vile idolators. 

That the Gospel was extensively spread in Britain during this 
period we learn from Tertullian and Origen. In the year 130, there 
were two ministers by the name of Faganus and Damianus, who 
were born in Wales but were born again in Rome, and becoming 
eminent ministers of the gospel were sent from Rome to assist their 
brethren in Wales. Crosby's Hist, of the English Baptists. Dr. 
Haylin's Cos. Leb., p. 257. 

During this year, Lucius, the Welsh King was baptized, and the 
first king in the world who embraced the Christian religion. During 
the next century Christianity made rapid progress in the islands, as 
is evident from the testimony of Tertullian and from the multitudes 
of martyrs who suffered in the tenth Pagan persecution under Dio- 
clesian, which took place about the year three hundred. The Saxons, 
in 469, invaded England, overthrew Christianity and burned the 
meeting-houses and drove all who would uot submit to them into 
Cambria, which is now called AVales. During this century the 



DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 103 



British Christians suffered greatly at the hands of their Saxon foes. 
Yet we find there were several eminent and faithful ministers among 
the Welsh Baptists at this period, among whom were Geldas, who 
was a man of learning, Dyfrig, Dynawt, Trylow, Padaru, Pawlin 
and Daniel. 

Infant baptism was not known to the Welsh Christians until A. 
D. 596 or 600, when Austin was sent by Gregory, Bishop of Rome, 
to convert the Saxons. In this he was successful and according to 
Fox he baptized ten thousand in the river Swall. He sought and 
obtained a conference with the Welsh Baptists near the border of 
Wales. The main point was that these primitive Christians should 
acknowledge the usurped authority of the Church of Rome. But 
these Baptists utterly refused to practice the traditions of Rome for 
the commandments of Christ, when this emissary of Rome threat- 
ened them with persecution. The Saxons shortly after invaded 
Wales, it is thought through the influence of Austin, and slaugh- 
tered incredible numbers. While infant baptism and the traditions 
of the son of perdition were enforced by the sword upon the low 
country and the rich and more fertile portions of the island, Welsh. 
Baptists contend that the principles of the Gospel were maintained 
pure and unalloyed in the recesses of their mountainous principality, 
and all through the dark reign of Popery. 

It seems that God had a regular chain of true and faithful witnesses 
in this country in every age, from the first introduction of Christianity 
to the present time, who never received nor acknowledged the Pope's 
supremacy ; like the thousands and millions of the inhabitants of 
the vale of Piedmont, residing in rich valleys and recesses of the 
mountains, almost excluded from the intercourse of other countries, 
as though the all-wise Creator had made them on purpose, as place 
of safety for his' children that would not bow the knee to Baal. 
Ben. Jones' P. A. Mom, p. 149. 

Dr. Richard Davis, Bishop of Monmouth, said there was a vast 
difference between the Christianity of the ancient Britons and that 
mock Christianity introduced by Austin into England in 596, for 
the ancient Britons kept their Christianity pure, without any mix- 
ture of human tradition, as they received it from the disciples of 
Christ and from the Church of Rome when she was pure, adhering 
strictly to the rules of the word of God. 

President Edwards of America, said : " In every age of this dark 
time (Popery) there appeared particular persons in all parts of 
Christendom who bore testimony against the corruptions and tyranny 
of the Church of Rome. There is no one age of Antichrist, even 
in the darkest tjmes, but ecclesiastical historians mention by name 
those who manifested an abhorrence of the Pope and his idolatrous 
worship, and pleaded for the ancient purity of doctrine and worship. 
God was pleased to maintain an uninterrupted succession of many 
witnesses through the whole time in Britain as well as in Germany 
and France — private persons and ministers, some magistrates, and 



104 HISTORY OF THE CHUECH OF CHRIST. 



persons of great distinction. And there were members in every age 
who were persecuted and put to death for this testimony. 

The faith and discipline of the Scottish churches in Ireland were 
the same with the British churches and their friendship and com- 
munion reciprocal. The ordinances of the Gospel in both islands, 
at this time, were administered in their primitive mode. The 
venerable Bede says that the supremacy of Rome was unknown to 
the ancient Irish. The worship of saints and images was held in 
abhorrence, and no ceremonies used which were not strictly war- 
ranted by Scripture. All descriptions of people were not only 
allowed but desired to consult the sacred writings as their only rule 
of conduct. 

In short, from what we have stated and the evidence produced by 
the learned Archbishop Usher, quoted by the Rev. William Hamil- 
ton, we have the strongest reason to conclude that these islands 
enjoyed the blessings of a pure enlightened piety, such as our 
Savior himself taught, unembarrassed by any of the idle tenets of 
the Roman church. 

When we cast our eyes on King Henry II advancing toward 
this devoted nation, bearing the bloody sword of war in one hand 
and the inquisitous bull of Pope Adrian in the other, we have one of 
the strongest arguments to prove that this was not originally an 
island of Popish saints and that the jurisdiction of Rome unques- 
tionably was not established here. Edwards Hist, of Redemption, 
p. 205. Bede on Hist. Gent. Angl. Lib. 3, c. 27. 

Our history of England and Ireland in this work has been very 
meager, for the reason that our authorities at hand afforded us very 
little information in relation to the progress of Christianity there; 
but finally procuring some important items upon that subject, we 
give it entire under the head of the sixteenth century, all of which 
being connected together will be interesting to our readers. 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

The reign of the Pope in England received a death blow in the 
seventeenth century, when Henry the VIII took an insult at the 
reproof of the Pope in consequence of his marriage; and being 
more thirsty for power vested in himself than a willingness to see 
others enjoy it, he was a fit instrument to make war with the Pope 
and all his clergy, which he did throughout his jurisdiction. He 
established an ecclesiastical hierarchy, with himself at the head, 
called the High Church or Church of England. He reformed some 
of the abuses of the clergy and some slight changes in Church gov- 
ernment, all of which seemed to be aiding in the reformation that 



DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 105 



was then going on, and the Baptists hailed it as the forerunner of 
better times, but to their great surprise it resulted in changing the 
old Roman inquisition for a new system of persecution, which was 
equally as formidable as the former. In the beginning of the sev- 
enteenth century we find the Church of England engaged in perse- 
cuting the Baptists with all the severity practiced by the mother 
church. The Baptists by this time had emerged from their state of 
obscurity and retirement, and their sentiments became public prop- 
erty. As the Reformation progressed the Baptists increased and 
Churches of their order established, and they began to worship 
publicly. Of the Churches established in these times, the following 
are said to exist until the present time: 1, Little Prescot, in 1633; 
2, Deavonshire Square, in 1638; 3, Red Cross St., 1644; 4, Com- 
mercial Road, in 1657; 5, Milford, 1664; 6, Little Wilde St., 1691; 
7, Maze Pond, 1692. 

Many of the reformers suffered the same cruel fate with the Bap- 
tists during these times in England, many of them learned and 
eminent men, such as Baxter, How and Owen and Bunyan, Kiffin 
and Hewling, among the Baptists. 

The Baptists, says Sir James Mcintosh, "suffered more than any 
others under Charles II, because they had publicly professed the 
principles of religious liberty." It has been computed, says Orch- 
ard, that from the Restoration to the Revolution, seventy thousand 
persons suffered on account of religion, eight thousand persons were 
destroyed, and twelve million pounds sterling (sixty million dollars) 
were paid in fines. 8 Hayne's Bap. Denomination, pp. 51, 294. 

We again resume the history of the German and Dutch Baptists 
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1633, it seems that 
the "Sociaians, with their pernicious charity, infected and divided 
these remaining Mennonite Churches, and on their ejection from 
Poland they flowed into this region of liberty and impregnated the 
waters of the sanctuary with the wormwood of their doctrines; 
consequently the Mennonites, to a great extent, have departed in 
various respects from the principles and maxims of their ancestors, 
and their primitive austerity and purity is greatly diminished, espe- 
cially among the Waterlandians and Germans. Their opulence 
relaxed their severities, and they now, in 1750, with others, enjoy 
the sweets of this life and are as censurable as any Christian com- 
munity. From the ascendancy of a national religion and love of 
the world, divisions arose in the seventeenth and eighteenth centu- 
ries which presented the interests at this period in a humiliatory 
aspect. The gold has become dim. Those who retain the name, 
and we hope the piety of their ancestors, are calculated, says Mr. 
Ward, in 1820, at thirty thousand. Orchard's Hist., pp. 375, 376. 

Mr. Benedict says: "I have followed the history of the German 
Anabaptists from 1524 till toward the close of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, a period of about one hundred and fifty years — have noticed 
every kind of impeachment which was brought against them by 



106 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



their enemies, and am happy in being able to state that they were 
never accused of any personal. misconduct. They continually chal- 
lenged their accusers for proof of anything immoral or injurious in 
their conduct, but nothing of the kind was ever attempted." 

We have traced the Baptist denomination from the time they dis- 
sented from the corrupt practices of the Church of Rome, in the 
second and third centuries, under the lead of Tertullian and Nova- 
tian, known by different names from time to time, but all bearing 
the same denominational character, and keeping the ordinances and 
discipline of the Church pure as it was received from the Apostle. 
In the fourth century they were severely persecuted by the Catholic 
party, and from that time down to the middle of the eighteenth 
century their road through time has been marked with the blood of 
their martyrs; and they, like their divine Master, when he was here 
on earth, had no place where they could lay their heads with safety 
for any great length of time, but when persecuted in one country 
they fled into another, and sowed the seeds of the gospel wherever 
they went until all the nations and isles of the Old World had heard 
the gospel of the Son of God. We have traced them through the 
reformation of the sixteenth century, separate and apart from the 
Church of Kome and the reforming parties, and now leave them in 
the nineteenth century scattered and maintaining their faith in most 
of the civilized nations of the Old World, and shall now notice 
their progress in the United States of America. 

The history of the world as well as the history of Church all go 
to prove the wonderful purposes of God and deep designs of his 
infinite wisdom. For near fifty-five centuries of time he suffered 
this great continent of America to remain unknown and unexplored 
by civilized man, as though he designed it for some cherished pur- 
pose. As the time drew near when the man of sin should be shorn 
of his power, he caused a deep impression to rest upon the mind of 
the great explorer of the age that a great continent existed upon 
the globe that had never been brought to the knowledge of the 
European people. As the preparation of the world was nearing the 
time of the Reformation, simultaneously was going on the develop- 
ment of the New World and its advantages. Each purpose being 
fully consummated the New World began to be settled by the 
English, and the idea soon suggested itself to those who had become 
worn out with the oppression of the Church of England that a res- 
pite from their sufferings might be found in America. The first 
effort for this purpose and in this direction was made by persons 
who had dissented from the Church of England and had formed 
themselves into a separate interest while in that country. The sen- 
timents and form of the Church polity were substantially the same 
as practiced by the sound Baptists of the Old World. Some years 
elapsed after they resolved on emigrating before they could pro- 
cure such privileges from the English Government as they desired. 
Emigration had been flowing into the New World, among whom 



DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 107 



were many of the people called Puritans in those times, and no 
doubt with a view of shunning the persecution of the Church ol 
England. It seems that two of the principal men of the new inter- 
est formed by the dissenting party from the Church of England, 
were chosen to make the necessary arrangements for their exit, and 
after waiting three years on Parliament for a grant of liberty and 
land to settle upon, resolved on venturing the expedition without 
obtaining it, relying on the providence of God for their protection. 
They failed in procuring passage for the whole company; it was 
decided that Robinson, their main leader and preacher, should 
remain for the present in Holland, where they had settled for the 
sake of liberty, while Elder Brewster came with the rest to America, 
and the solemn advice given them by Mr. Robinson, on their part- 
ing, is well worthy the attention and imitation of any people, but 
too lengthy to insert here. They sailed on the 6th of September, 
1620, and landed on Cape Cod November 11. They drew up a 
covenant for their civil government, which was signed by their prin- 
cipal men before they landed, numbering in all 101 souls. They 
had a tedious time to find a suitable place for settlement, but on 
December the 16th the ship came to the harbor Called Plymouth, 
and then they had to build themselves houses to live in, in the 
midst of a cold wintry season, without any friend to assist or pity 
them. This proved to be an advantageous place for their settlement. 
A great sickness had, a few years before, laid this place desolate and 
had swept off most of the Indians for forty miles round, so that 
those that remained were glad of their help against the Narragan- 
sets, where the sickness did not reach, for here were fields already 
cleared for them, who had no teams for the purpose for several 
years after. Their exposure and poor accommodations during the 
winter following caused sickness to prevail among them, so that near 
one-half of their company died in six months. Yet they were won- 
derfully favored by Providence. 

The next year they made a friendly treaty with the Indians, 
which lasted all their days. Mr. Robinson and most of his people 
were detained in Holland, until after a short sickness he died. 
Whether or no these people, after they dissented and separated from 
the Church of England, were baptized by immersion is not stated ; 
but their doctrinal sentiments and church government, and their 
strenuous advocacy of religious freedom, show that they were Bap- 
tists in principle. The presumption is that they emigrated in their 
Church capacity. It seems that Brewster, their preacher, was not 
ordained to administer the ordinances. We suppose he was what we 
would call a licensed preacher. Mr. Backus says: "Though they 
took much pains, yet they never obtained a pastor here until Mr. 
Ralph Smith came over with the Salem Company in 1629, and not 
being wanted there, he came that year to Plymouth, and was their 
pastor about six years." 

We quote from Bachus : " After our fathers at Plymouth, through 



108 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



great dangers and difficulties, had prepared the way, many who dis- 
liked the corruption and oppression in the Church of England 
made preparation for removal into this country. Mr. John White, 
a minister in Dorchester, England, prevailed with a number of 
wealthy men to write over to Roger Canant and others who were 
scattered in different places, to repair to Cape Ann, and they would 
send over money and goods to assist them in planting and fishing, 
and they did so with success, and on March 19, 1628, the council for 
the affairs of New England which lies between lines drawn three 
miles north of every part of Merrimac River, and three miles south 
of Massachusetts Bay, and extending west from the Atlantic Ocean 
to the South Sea. And they sent over Mr. John Endicot as gov- 
ernor of said people, who made Salem to be their chief town, and on 
March 4, 1629, King Charles granted the Massachusetts Charter, 
including all the lands before described, to be holden of him and his 
heirs and successors. And Mr. Francis Higginson and Samuel 
Skelton, with two other ministers and above three hundred persons 
with them, came over to Salem and gathered a church and ordained 
these two ministers on August 6, 1629, and also a ruling elder, and 
they received the right hand of fellowship the same day from the 
church at Plymouth. So early did they join with those here whom. 
many had censured for separating from the Church of England in 
their native country. The ensuing year afforded large accessions to 
the New World ; the greatest difficulties and privations in the settle- 
ment of the country had been overcome ; consequently many of the 
dreaded sufferings had ceased, and people became influenced by 
other motives than religious freedom to seek a home in what was 
now termed New England, and among the large accession that were 
coming yearly were many preachers, some of whom, it seems, would 
have liked a modification of the rigorous practices of the Church of 
England, yet not prepared to throw off all the unscriptural practices 
of that ecclesiastical hierarchy. Churches were soon formed in different 
parts, possessing for a time but few of the objectionable features of 
the old interest, but many if not all of the churches formed by the 
latter emigrants retained infant baptism, the national church badge 
which always leads to the amalgamation of church and state where 
they are in the ascendancy. May 18, 1631, the general Court at 
Boston made a law that no man hereafter should be admitted as a 
freeman, to have a vote in their government, but a member in some 
of their churches. On September 4, 1633, arrived a ship in which 
came John Cotton, Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone, min- 
isters, and John Haynes, afterwards Governor of Massachusetts, and 
then of Connecticut. Mr. Cotton was soon settled in the ministry 
at Boston, where he had much influence both in the civil and eccle- 
siastical affairs of the country till he died. But Mr. Hooker could 
not agree with him in some things of great importance, though he 
did in others. Hooker favored the freedom of all men to vote in 
the affairs of government whether members of their churches or not. 



DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTUEY. 109 



Perhaps many of the rulers and leaders of those people were as 
wise and pious men as any who ever undertook to establish religion 
upon earth by human laws enforced by the sword of the magistrate; 
and the evils which they ran into ought to be imputed to that prin- 
ple, and not to any others which they held that were agreeable to 
Gospel. It seems that at that time their persecutors in England 
were exerting their influence to bring these people again under their 
power in religious matters, and in defending themselves they advo- 
cated principles that were contrary to the Gospel and religious free- 
dom, much against the will and approbation of many who had come here 
with the hope of obtaining full liberty of conscience and religious free- 
dom. It was openly opposed by Mr. Roger Williams who had been 
a preacher in the new interest for several years at Plymouth and 
Salem, where the first emigrants formed churches. Mr. Williams, 
according to his own account, and good information from others, 
was born in Wales in the year 1599, was educated at the Univer- 
sity of Oxford and was introduced into the ministry in the Church 
of England. But he soon found that he could not in conscience 
conform to many things in their worship; therefore he came over 
to this country and arrived at Boston in February, 1631, and in 
April he was called to preach at Salem ; but as he had refused to 
commune with the Church at Boston and objected against the oaths 
they took when they came out of England, and the force in religious 
affairs which they exercised here, the Court at Boston wrote to Salem 
against him, upon which he went to Plymouth, where he preached 
above two years, and was highly esteemed by Governor Bradford and 
others. Mr. Skelton, the pastor at Salem was taken sick and Mr. 
Williams was invited there to preach in his place, and he obtained 
a dismission in the summer of 1633 and preached there till Skelton 
died, August 2, 1634, after which he was ordained in Salem. He 
had spoken against the meeting of ministers by themselves once 
a fortnight, fearing that it might grow in time to a presbytery or 
superintendency over the churches and greater defections soon 
follow. Mr. Williams preached openly against the act of the Boston 
Court declaring no man eligible to vote who were not members of 
their churches, for which the Governor and assistants convented 
him before them on April 30, but he refused to retract what he had 
done, and Mr. Cotton says, " The Court was forced to retract from 
their proceeding." Because Mr. Williams would not retract from 
his position, they, at their meeting in May, took from Salem some 
land, which they held until Mr. Williams should be given up, which 
was done the fall after, and when the Court met, March 3, 1636, 
they said, "It was proved to this Court that Marble Neck belonged 
to Salem." Mr. Williams remained steadfast, whereupon the Court 
preferred charges against him, in the following words : " Whereas, 
Mr. Roger Williams, one of the elders of the Church of Salem, hath 
broached and divulged divers new and dangerous doctrines against 
the authorities of magistrates, as also written letters of defamation 



110 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



both of the magistrates and Churches here, and that before any 
conviction, and yet maintaineth the same, without any retraetion, it 
is therefore ordered that the said Mr. Williams shall depart out of 
this jurisdiction within six weeks now next ensuing, which, if he 
neglect to perform, it shall be lawful for the Governor and two 
magistrates to send him to some place out of this jurisdiction, not 
to return any more without leave from the Court. As he did not 
go they sent for him to come to Boston, in January, 1639, but he 
sent an excuse for not coming, upon which they sent an officer to 
take him and convey him on board a ship bound for England ; but 
when the officer got to Salem he had been gone three days. He first 
went to a place called Rehoboth, but Governor Winslow wrote to 
him that he was then within Plymouth colony, but if he would only 
go over the river he would be out of its bounds and be as free as 
themselves. And he readily did so and obtained a grant of land 
from the Narragansett Indians, where he began the first civil 
government upon earth that gave equal liberty of conscience. 
Though before he obtained it he says, " I was sorely tossed for four- 
teen weeks, in a bitter winter season, not knowing what bread and 
bed did mean." And in view of what great things which God had 
done for him, he called the place Providence. 

We may reasonably supposee from the course pursued by Mr. 
Williams on his arrival in this country, in 1631, in refusing com- 
munion with the Church at Boston, and then preaching for the 
churches at Salem and Plymouth, that he considered them possess- 
ing fewer (if any) of the objectionable features of the Church of 
England; yet it is certain that he at this time had not been baptized 
by immersion, and it is probable that those two churches still favored 
sprinkling for baptism, and likely were afterward induced to submit 
to all the unscriptural, oppressive measures of the Church at Boston: 
One reason why we arrive at this conclusion is, the Salem Church 
giving up Mr. Williams to the Boston authorities, in consequence 
of which the lands that had been taken away from Salem were 
restored to them again. Mr. Williams was exiled in January, 1636, 
and alter 14 weeks we hear of him occupying his own grant of land 
obtained from the Narragansett Indians. How wonderful are the 
dealings of God, and his ways past finding out ! The sons of Jacob 
sold their brother Joseph and he was carried into Egypt a servant ; 
and little did his brethren think that in a few years the subsistence 
of themselves and all their kindred would have to depend upon his 
wisdom and generosity; even so, little did the people of Boston 
think, when they were banishing Roger Williams and expecting 
him to Vie sent to England, that the hand of God was controlling 
this event and making use of Mr. Williams as an instrument to save 
the English settlers in the country from being destroyed by the 
Indians. Mr. Williams stood as a mediator for years between the 
whit-.' man and the red man. He soon acquired a knowledge of 
their language and advocated their rights to the soil against the 



DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Ill 



encroachments of the English nation, all of which had an influence 
with the Indians and secured to him their confidence. This was not 
all in which Mr. Williams was instrumental in accomplishing ; he 
was the honored instrument in laying the foundation of a free gov- 
ernment, and sowing religious freedom in this land. Mr. Williams' 
religious sentiments were strictly Baptist before he left England, but 
he was not identified with them by baptism until 1639, when the 
first Baptist church was formed in America, at a place called Provi- 
dence, by Mr. Williams. Mr. Benedict says : " Its members were 
twelve in number, viz.: Roger Williams, Ezekiel Holliman, Stuck- 
ley Westcot, John Green, Richard Waterman, Thomas James, Rob- 
ert Cole, William Carpenter, Francis Weston and Thomas Olney. 
These men were probably most of them heads of families, and it is 
reasonable to suppose that some of their companions were among the 
first members of the church. But upon this point no information can 
be obtained. 

As the whole company in their own estimation were unbaptized, 
and as they knew of no administrator in the infant settlements to 
whom they could apply, they, with much propriety, hit upon the 
following expedient : Ezekiel Holliman, a man of gifts and piety, 
by the suffrages of the little company was appointed to baptize Mr. 
Williams, who in return baptized Holliman and the other ten. 

Some of our writers have taken no little pains to apologize for 
this unusual transaction, but in my opinion, it was just such a course 
as all companies of believers who wish to form a church in such 
extraordinary circumstances should pursue. Any company of 
Christians may commence a church in gospel order, by their own 
mutual agreement, without reference to any other body; and this 
church has all power to appoint any one of their number, whether 
minister or layman, to commence anew the administration of gospel 
institutions. This is the Baptist doctrine of apostolic succession, 
which they prefer to receive from good men rather than through the 
polluted channels of the papal power. 

In ordinary cases this is not advisable, and is but seldom done; 
but in such a state of banishment and exile, or in any condition of 
a similar nature, none need to hesitate to follow the example of the 
founder of this ancient community. This church was soon joined 
by twelve other persons who came to this new settlement, and abode 
in harmony and peace. Their names are not given, nor are we 
informed whether they came to them as members of Baptist churches 
from the mother country, or were baptized here after their arrival. 
Bur. Hist., p. 150. 

It seems that nine years previous to the establishment of the first 
Baptist Church in America, the foundation was laid for their oppres- 
sion. A large company of dissenters from the Church of England 
while on their way to the New World, the question was agitated in 
relation to the support of church and the ministry in this new 
region of country. The first question proposed, was, How shall 



112 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



the ministers be maintained ? It was ordered that houses be built 
for them speedily, at the public charge, and their salaries were 
established. 

Mr. Benedict says, "This was the viper in embryo;" here was 
an importation and establishment in the settlements, of the odious 
doctrine of Church and State, which had thrown Europe into 
confusion, had caused rivers of blood to be shed, had crowded 
prisons with innocent victims, and had driven the pilgrims them- 
selves who were now engaged in this mistaken legislation from all 
that was dear in their native homes. From these resolutions on 
board this floating vessel which by, subsequent acts, became a per- 
manent law subjecting every citizen, whatever was his religious 
belief, to support the ministry of the established church, and to pay 
all the taxes which the dominant party might impose for their 
houses of worship, their ordinations and all their ecclesiastical 
affairs, proceeded the great mistake of the Puritan fathers, from 
which flowed the unrighteous system of compelling multitudes to 
support a religion and form of worship which they did not approve. 

Having alluded to the first settlement of the people who were 
Baptists in sentiment, and to the organization of the first Baptist 
Church in America, at Providence, in Rhode Island, March, 1639, 
the number of members and the manner of its formation, with its 
progress for a time, have been already given. It seems from Bene- 
dict's history of the Baptists, that the church at Providence still 
exists, and after many churches being formed of members dismissed 
from her, in 1820 she numbered 648 members. 

The second church in America was formed 1644, at Newport, in 
the same vicinity of country, consisting of twelve ntembers. Elder 
John Clark, the founder of this church beccame its first minister. 
Mr. Clark seems to have been a very eminent man. He was a 
practicing physician before he became a Baptist; he left Massa- 
chusetts and came to Newport with a number of others for the sake 
of liberty of conscience. He was chosen by the people of the 
Colony to accompany Mr. Williams to England, to attend to their 
interests before Parliament. He remained the pastor of this church 
about ten years before he went to England. Elder Obadiah Holmes 
succeeded him as pastor of the church. In 1651, Messrs. Clark, 
Holmes and Crandall, by request of William Wider, visited a place 
in Massachusetts called Lynn. Wider being a brother and an old 
man, could not attend the church at Newport, and the next day 
being Sunday, they concluded to spend it in religious worship at his 
house; while Mr. Clark was preaching from Revelations iii: 10, two 
constables arrived and arrested them on a warrant issued by one 
Robert Bridges, and to appear before him on Monday at eight 
o'clock A. M. Mr. Clark and his associates submitted to the 
demands of the law, or the authorities that appeared on the face of 
the warrant, and next day was brought before the magistrates, who 
committed them to prison in Boston. About a fortnight after, the 



DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 113 



Court of Assistants passed the following sentences against these 
persecuted men : That Mr. Clark should pay a fine of twenty- 
pounds, and Mr. Holmes of thirty, and Mr. Crandall of five, or be 
publicly whipped ! They all refused to pay their fines and were 
remanded back to prison. Some of Mr. Clark's friends paid his 
fine without his consent. Mr. Crandall was released upon his 
promise of appearing at their next court. But he was not informed 
of the time until it was over, 'and then they exacted his fine from 
the keeper of the prison. The only crime alledged against Mr. 
Crandall was his being in company with his brethren. Mr. Holmes 
was kept in prison until September, and then the sentence of the 
law was executed upon him in the most cruel and unfeeling manner. 
In the course of the trial against these worthy men, Mr. Clark 
defended himself and his brethren with so much ability, that the 
court found themselves much embarrassed. At length, (says Mr. 
Clark,) the Governor stepped up and told us we had denied infant 
baptism and being somewhat transported, told me I had deserved 
death, and said he would not have such trash brought into their 
jurisdiction ; moreover, he said, you go up and down and secretly 
insinuate into those that are weak, but you can not maintain it 
before our ministers." To this challenge Mr. Clark on the next day 
sent from the prison a note of acceptance, which caused a long con- 
sultation between the authorities of State and church ; when finally 
one of the magistrates informed Mr. Clark that a disputation was 
granted to be the next week. But on the Monday following, the 
clergy held a consultation, and made no small stir about the matter; 
for Mr. Clark had required full and free course in argument without 
being subjected to their laws. Those sprinklers saw that it was an 
easy thing to enforce their principles by law, but they feared a free 
discussion and full investigation of theirs ; they finally withdrew, 
or gave a different version of the Governor's proposition, and 
declined the disputation. Mr. Holmes in his own narrative of his 
sufferings says he received thirty strokes with a three-corded whip. 
This he received on his bare back. He says that he received so 
much of the presence of the Lord in his soul, that notwithstanding, 
his friends told him the strokes were laid on with power ; yet his 
pains and sufferings were light. And because some of his friends 
sympathized with him, and congratulated him on his great fortitude 
in bearing his punishment, two of them were apprehended; their 
names were John Speer and John Hazle, the latter was one of Mr. 
Holmes' brethren in Rohoboth, before he left the Puritans. Both 
of these men were condemned to receive ten lashes, or pay forty 
shillings apiece. The latter they could not do with a clear con- 
science, and were therefore preparing for such another scourging as 
they had seen and pitied in their brother Holmes. But their fines 
were paid without their knowledge and they released. Mr. 
Bachus says the only charge they could prove against them was that 
they took Mr. Holmes by the hand when he came from the whip- 
8 



114 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OP CHRIST. 



ping post and blessed God for the strength He had given him. 
Mr. Hazle was upwards of sixty years old, and died a few days 
after he was released before he reached home. 

It seems that the Church at Newport had adopted the practice of 
the laying on of hands on all baptized persons before coming to the 
Lord's table ; and shortly after Mr. Holmes became their pastor, in 
1056, a portion of the members became dissatisfied with that prac- 
tice, and even other slight differences 'of opinion, and twenty-one of 
them broke off, and formed a new church. It seems that many 
persons imbibed this notion in the early settlements and Baptist 
progress in this country. We have no account of any but one 
Baptist Association in this colony of freedom, until 1843. That 
was called Warren; formed in 1767, containing thirty-six churches, 
5,712 members in 1847. 

We now come to notice the Baptists in Massachusetts ; the first 
emigrants to America, most of them landed in the bounds of this 
colony and formed their settlement there. And notwithstanding it 
was the oppression of the Church of England that caused the most of 
them to seek a home in the New World, yet when they got there 
and found no higher power to control them, they soon conceived the 
idea of establishing a Puritan religious hierarchy ; how common it 
is for people to complain of the faults and oppressions of others, 
when they are in power; but let them get into power themselves 
and very many of them will be guilty of the same acts that they 
have complained of in others. The Puritans who were oppressed 
in England became the oppressing party in America. Perhaps the 
largest portion of the Baptists that landed at Plymouth on finding 
there was no liberty there, soon left and went to Providence and 
Newport. Benedict says, the oldest church of the Baptist order in 
this State, is that at Swansea, on the southern side near to the Rhode 
Island line, which was formed in 1663. Two years after, viz.: in 
1665, is the date of the first Baptist Church in Boston. 

Thus it appears to have been over forty years from the landing 
of the Pilgrim fathers before the organization of any Baptist com- 
munity in this ancient commonwealth. But during all this time, 
and from the first settlement of the colony there were individuals of 
this belief, and the constant fear of their influence was the source of 
alarming apprehensions to the ministers and rulers of these times. 

Hansard Knollys, a Baptist preacher from the mother country, 
landed and tarried a while in Boston in 1638. In 1639, the same 
year in which the first church in Providence was founded, an 
attempt was made to form a church in Weymouth, a town about 
fourteen miles from Boston. John Speer, John Smith, Richard Syl- 
vester, Ambrose Morton, Thomas Makepeace, and Robert Senthal 
were the principal actors in this design. They were all apprehended 
and arraigned before the General Court at Boston, on the 13th of 
March, 1639, where they were treated according to the order of the 
day. Smith, who was probably the most forward in the matter, was 



DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 115 



fined twenty pounds and committed during the pleasure of the 
Court. Sylvester was fined twenty shillings and disfranchised. 
Morton was fined ten pounds, and committed to go to Mr. Mather 
for instruction. Makepeace was not fined, but had a modest hint of 
chastisement unless he reformed. Lenthal, it seems, compromised 
the matter with the Court for the present. 

In 1640, Rev. Mr. Chauncy, a minister of the Pedo-Baptist order, 
became an open advocate for the doctrine of immersion, but still 
held on to infants as proper subjects for the rite. This innovation, 
however, trifling as it was, made no little stir among the magistrates 
and elders of the Church. But President Dunstor, of Cambridge 
College, soon after this went much further, and openly renounced 
the whole system of infant baptism, but we have no account that he 
ever united with any Baptist Church. In 1644, a poor man by the 
name of Painter was suddenly turned Anabaptist (as they were still 
called by their enemies,) and for refusing to have his child baptized 
he was complained of to the Court, who, with judicial dignity, inter- 
posed their authority in the case in favor of the child, and because 
the poor man gave it as his opinion that infant baptism was an anti- 
Christian ordinance, he was tied up and whipped. Bach. Hist., by 
Benedict, page 370. 

About this time Mr. Williams returned from England with the 
first charter for the Rhode Island colony. The members of Parlia- 
ment had been informed of the sufferings and oppression of the 
Baptists by the Puritans in America, which caused twelve of them 
to join in a letter sent by Williams, addressed to the Governor, 
assistants and people of Massachusetts, exhorting them to lenient 
measures toward their dissenting brethren, and toward Mr. Williams 
in particular. But this appeal had no effect in mitigating the keen- 
ness of their resentment or the severity of their measures. No doubt 
this favor obtained by Mr. Williams from the home government, to 
establish a colony which would afford them an asylum in time of 
danger, emboldened them to advocate their sentiments more publicly. 
Mr. Winthrope says : About this time the Anabaptists increased and 
spread in Massachusetts. This increase was an alarming circum- 
stance to the clergy and rulers of this colony, and was no doubt the 
cause of leading the General Court to pass the act for the suppres- 
sion of this obnoxious sect, the words of which are given at length 
in Benedict's Hist., p. 370. 

This seems to have been the first law that was made against the 
Baptists in the United States. It was passed November 13, 1644, 
about two months after Mr. Williams landed in Boston with his 
charter and letters* to the authorities recommending lenity to their 
dissenting brethren. Two charges made in their manifesto, says Mr. 
Bachus, are true, viz., that the Baptists denied infant baptism and 
the ordinance of magistracy, or, as Baptists would express it, the 
use of secular force in religious affairs, but all the other slanderous 
invectives he declares are entirely without foundation. He further- 



116 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



more asserts that he had diligently searched all the books, records 
and papers which he could find on all sides, and could not find an 
instance then (1777) of any real Baptist in Massachusetts being con- 
victed of or suffering for any crime, except for the denying of infant 
baptism and the use of secular force in religious affairs. This decla- 
ration or manifesto, put forth by the Puritans, was the first excuse 
offered for driving the Baptists from their jurisdiction, but they 
had previously passed a law forbidding any one from entertaining 
strangers without a license from two magistrates. All classes of 
community fell under this prohibition. The men of business com- 
plained of it as hurtful to their trade, and a multitude of others as 
an encroachment on the rights of hospitality, which they were will- 
ing to exercise toward the houseless and benighted stranger who 
might seek shelter in the darkness of the night from the raging 
storm. This was all done to keep the Baptists, Quakers and Church- 
men from teaching their sentiments in any part of the colony, either 
publicly or privately. 

We have detailed many extraordinary acts of the Catholic Church 
during the dark ages in our history, but none to exceed this in 
invading the hospitality of the community against strangers of all 
kinds, whether destitute and suffering or otherwise. How fearful 
are the consequences of error in combating with truth, where they 
have not the secular power to aid them. The persecutions of 
Obadiah Holmes, John .Clark and others, which took place under 
Puritan rule in Massachusetts, have already been given, and the 
formation of the first Baptist Church, in the vicinity of Boston, 
commands our attention next. The slaves of error and Antichrist 
have no other wisdom to conduct them but the wisdom of this 
world ; and God has said, " The wrath of man shall praise him, and 
the remainder of wrath he will restrain." We see this verified at 
Boston, which led to the establishment of the Baptist Church in the 
neighborhood of that place. About the year 1655, one Thomas 
Gould, a man of very humble pretensions, with no official character 
of any kind, but a private member of a small country church, was 
by Divine Providence made the honored instrument in this hazard- 
ous and dangerous enterprise and the victim of all the sufferings 
and reproaches which it involved. He had become skeptical in 
relation to infant baptism, but had kept it to himself until at length 
he had a child born unto him; and if they (the Puritans) had then 
possessed the wisdom that experience since has taught their succes- 
sors in the practice of infant baptism, to know that there was danger 
in undertaking to force those who doubt the propriety of the rite to 
comply therewith, they might have procrastinated the establishment 
of a Baptist Church in Boston for many years; but unlimited 
authority knows no bounds. The elders of the church, no doubt 
waiting impatiently for Mr. Gould to bring his child to baptism, 
concluded at length to notify him of his negligence, and desired him 
to meet them at the elder's house on the next day. Mr. Gould sent 



DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 117 



them word that he had promised to go another way on the morrow, 
but he would come at any other time they would appoint. The 
matter lay so for two months, when they brought an allegation 
against him for withholding his child from baptism; to which Mr. 
Gould answered that he did not see any rule of Christ for it, for 
that ordinance belongs to such as can make profession of their faith 
as the Scripture doth plainly hold forth. A controversy in relation 
to the rite ensued and much altercation took place, but not to the 
convincing of Mr. Gould of his error. From Mr. Gould's own nar- 
rative of the matter given by Mr. Bachus, it seems that he conducted 
the conducted the controversy with a good deal of ability for over 
seven years, during which time it became notorious that he was a 
Baptist in principle, and the Baptists looked on him as favoring 
their cause, yet it seems that he had no settled plan for his future 
action. He says about this time some Baptists from England 
desired to hold a meeting at his house. They well understood how 
to manage cases of this kind from their own experience at home. 
The meetings were accordingly commenced, and on the 28th of 
May, 1665, the church was formed, consisting of Thomas Gould 
and eight others. 

Mr. Bachus, by Benedict, says this, little Anabaptist Church, con- 
sisting of only nine members, a part of whom were females and the rest 
illiterate ploughmen and mechanics, made full employment for the 
rulers of Massachusetts for several years. In a few months after 
the constitution of this little church, it became the chief subject of 
legislation and judicial proceedings at Boston for several years, and 
some of the members spent most of their time in courts and prisons; 
they were often fined and finally sentenced* to banishment, which, 
however, they did not see fit to obey. It would take a volume, says 
Morgan Edwards, to contain an account of their sufferings for ten 
years. 

Thus the Baptists continued to be exposed to persecution, by fines 
and imprisonment, until 1673, when Mr. John Leveret, who 
had always opposed the measures used against the Baptists, was 
chosen Governor, and they were permitted to enjoy their liberty for 
nearly six years. This Church maintained her existence and 
increased slowly, and in 1678 they resolved on building a place of 
worship in Boston, having for fourteen years been destitute of a 
house for public worship, during which time they met for worship 
in their dwelling houses in Charlestown, Boston and Noddle's 
Island (now East Boston.) Before the meeting house was finished 
Governor Leveret died, and former measures of severity were 
renewed against the Baptists. On the 15th of February, 1679, the 
church met in their house for the first time, but their enjoyment in 
this commodious sanctuary was of short duration, for on the follow- 
ing May the General Court, not finding any old law which would 
bear upon the case, enacted a new one to this effect : " That no per- 
son should erect or make use of a house for public worship, without 



118 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



license from the public authorities, under the penalty that the house 
and land on which it stood should be forfeited to the use of the 
county, to be disposed of by the county treasurer by sale, or demol- 
ished, as the Court that gave judgment in the case should order." 
News of the proceedings having reached the powers at home, the 
King in due time wrote to the rulers here, requiring that liberty of 
conscience should be allowed to all Protestants, so as they might not 
be discountenanced in sharing in the government, much less that no 
good subject of his, for not agreeing in the congregational way, 
should by law be subjected to fines and forfeitures, or other incapa- 
cities for the same, which, said His Majesty, is a severity the more 
to be wondered at, whereas liberty of conscience was made a prin- 
cipal motive for your transportation into those parts. 

But these obstinate and resolute defenders of Pedo-baptism 
yielded a very slow and reluctant compliance with this positive 
injunction from the throne. Deplorable, indeed, said Mr. Bachus, 
was the case of these brethren. They had been often reproached 
for meeting in private houses. " But since," said they, " we have, for 
our convenience, obtained a 'public house, on purpose for that use, 
we have become more offensive than before." 

How long they were excluded from their own premises does not 
appear ; but no doubt a number of months intervened before the 
news could go and the order of the King return from the mother 
country. But at length they got intimation of the King's letter in 
their favor ; they were emboldened to enter their long deserted 
chapel. But only three or four times were they permitted to assem- 
ble before they were again called before the vexatious Court to 
answer for the high offence, and soon they found the doors nailed 
up and a paper put on them to this effect : 

" All persons are to take notice, that by order of the Court, the 
doors of this house are shut up, and that they are inhibited to hold 
any meeting, or to open the doors thereof, without license from 
authority, till the General Court take further order, as they will 
answer the contrarv at their peril. Dated at Boston, 8th May, 
1680." 

This was open resistance to the King's order, but no alternative 
remained but to submit. The next Lord's day they met in their 
yard, where they soon after erected a temporary covering. But on 
the next Lord's day when they came together, they found their doors 
had been opened, and their assemblies continued without interrup- 
tion until the following May, when their leading men were again 
cited before the ever-watchful Assembly. 

But our brethren took a bolder stand than they had done ; they 
asserted their rights as freemen in religious matters, in accordance 
with the order of the King. They were finally dismissed under a 
charge from the Governor not to meet in their house again ; and the 
Court agreed to suspend any further proceedings against them. 

It seems that the authorities at Boston now began to discover that 



DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 119 



the civil coercion had but little effect in checking the progress of 
the devotional services of the Baptists in Massachusetts, for when 
they dared not meet in public they continued to meet in private ; 
and their zeal was by no means abated by the persecutions they were 
subjected to by the party in power. 

The authorities gradually abated their rigorous measures until 
1692, when all coercive measures ceased in Boston. And public 
feeling began gradually to grow in favor of those persecuted people, 
until the Puritans themselves, either through policy or otherwise, 
began to use a great deal of courtesy toward them. This feeling, it 
would seem, after continuing for over twenty years, became recipro- 
cal, or the Baptists would not have permitted the co-operation of the 
Puritan ministers in the ordination of Mr. Callender to the minis- 
try. Mr. Benedict says : " So wonderful was the change that had 
had already been effected in the public sentiment that Dr. Increase 
Mather, Cotton Mather, and Mr. John Webb, three principal cler- 
gymen of this town, of the Congregational order, at the request of 
the church, not only agreed to the settlement of Mr. Callender but 
performed the principal service on the occasion, and that, too, in the 
very house which had been once nailed up by the authorities of the 
town." 

Other churches that had sprung into being in the country suffered 
much from persecution, as well. as the Church in Boston. It seems 
that the increase of the Baptists now became more rapid, but no 
extraordinary in-gathering or revival among them until after the 
Pev. George Whitfield made his first visit to Boston — under whose 
labors arose what was called the " New Light Stir." 

It seems that Mr. Whitfield taught his converts to throw aside 
tradition and take the word of God only as their guide in all mat- 
ters of religious faith and practice. This, says Mr. Benedict, was 
in perfect coincidence with all Baptist teachings, and as was pre- 
dicted by the more sagacious among the opposers of the revival, 
ultimately led thousands, among whom were many ministers, to 
embrace our views and enter our ehurhes. 

Mr. Whitfield made his first visit to the United States in 1740, 
shortly after which laage accessions were made to the Baptist denom- 
ination, both by an increase to the old churches and the formation 
of new ones. Persecution having ceased for about fifty years in 
Massachusetts, some of the preachers and churches began to specu- 
late upon new theories in religion and Mr. Condy, pastor of the 
First Baptist Church in Boston, was charged with holding the follow- 
ing sentiments by some of his brethren, viz.: as denying original 
sin or explaining away the corruption and depravity of human 
nature ; as denying the doctrine of regeneration, or improperly 
mixing it with free agency and co-operation ; as denying the 
agency or operation of the Holy Spirit as distinct from the ope- 
rations of the human mind; as denying election and predestination, 
and as holding to falling from grace. These charges being made and 



120 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



no satisfaction given, a portion of the members broke off and 
formed a new church on strict apostolic principles. 

The increase of the Baptists in Boston has been very great during 
the present century. There were, in 1846, twelve Baptist churches 
in that city, eight of which, probably, were formed since the 
division between the Old and New School. From Benedict's account 
there were, in 1846, twelve Associations in the State, containing 
236 churches and 30,389 members. All the Associations in this 
State have been formed since 1800. There were three churches 
formed in the seventeenth century and five others by the middle of 
the eighteenth century. 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

In Connecticut, the earliest operations of our denomination were 
commenced by a small colony from Rhode Island in the beginning 
of the eighteenth century. In 1705, a church was planted at a 
place called Groton, seven miles from New London. This remained 
the only Baptist Church in this province for about twenty years, 
when another church was constituted at New London. It seems 
that the first settlers in the country were Pedo-baptists, and then, 
as now, used all their influence to make their attendants believe that 
the Baptists were a very bad people religiously, and propagated 
errors of a bewitching and most dangerous character, and were 
aiming to subvert all the established forms of religion in the land, 
which had its influence for a time, but the New Light Stir came 
well nigh breaking up their ecclesiastical establishments. Divisions 
ensued, separate meetings were set up in many towns arid parishes, 
Baptist principles took root almost everywhere, and many of the 
zealous New Lights, who began in Pedo-baptist errors, ended in 
embracing Baptist truth. From this, several churches were formed, 
and their piety and upright walk gave them an influence which 
overcome the prejudice that had been caused by the false impression 
made by their enemies. In 1789, their number had increased to 
thirty churches, in which were about twenty ministers. From this 
date the denomination began to increase much faster than it had 
done, so that in 1795, the number of churches had increased to 
sixty, the ministers to forty, and the communicants three thousand 
five hundred. Mr. Benedict says, "For the last thirty years the 
increase has been more rapid, so that there are now in the State a 
little over a hundred churches, and upward of sixteen thousand 
members. They had in 1847, -five Associations, two of which were 
formed in the eighteenth century, the other three since." 

The State of Vermont was not settled until about a century after 



DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTUEY. 121 



the landing of the Pilgrim fathers at Plymouth, except a small 
portion near that place. It was first settled by the Puritans who 
controlled everything in their own way, and were disposed to adopt 
the old legal measures in the support of religion, which had from 
the beginning been prevalent among the descendants of the Puri- 
tans. The first Baptist Church was formed in 1768; it arose out of 
a company of Pedo-baptist Separates, who were the first settlers of 
the country. It seems after the New Light Stir, that many of 
those in whom the chains of superstition had been broken by a 
thorough teaching of the spirit of truth, joined the Baptists, and of 
those was this church principally built. And to this, as in all other 
cases where churches were formed principally of those New Light 
converts, they held to open communion for a time, but it gradually 
gave place to the regular Baptist system. 

In this State, the Free Will Baptists seem to have had a strong 
party, and the Christian society also, with all of whom open com- 
munion is a favorite dogma. Consequently it was some time before 
the regular Baptists' became entirely purified from that contagion. 

There are nine Associations in this State, five of which were 
formed in the eighteenth century, and the other four in the nine- 
teenth century — the total number of churches was one hundred and 
twelve, with eighty-nine ministers, and ten thousand one hundred 
and eighty-one members in 1846. 

The statistics that we are giving of the Baptists in the different 
States, are taken from Benedict's History of the Baptists, which is 
the latest work of the kind published, and, we presume, in rela- 
tion to the northern and eastern States, may be regarded as substan- 
tially correct. 

We design giving a distinct view of the progress and standing of 
our denomination, as far as it can be ascertained, up to the nine- 
teenth century, so that their progress since that time can be easily 
compared with the former. 

The first settlements in New Hampshire were for many years 
governed by the laws of Massachusetts, which prohibited public 
worship of any kind except Puritanism, and in accordance with 
Pedo-baptist practice, they made all sorts of ridicule and misrepre- 
sentations in relation to Baptist principles, and all this connected 
with their traditional sentiments caused the Baptists to be looked 
upon as a dangerous people, and not fit for civil society. A cele- 
brated preacher of the Baptist order, and a few others of our 
community, were among the early settlers of the Old Granite State, 
yet they were soon dispersed, and no churches of the order of any 
permanent character, were gathered here for more than a century 
after. We find many incidents related, and said to have taken 
place in reference to the introduction of Baptist sentiments among 
the priest-ridden people of this State — too lengthy for our space, 
but sufficient to say that the Lord always prepares the way for the 
accomplishment of His purpose. 



122 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



He find the first Baptist Church formed in New Hampshire was 
in 1755, but did not long maintain its standing. Another was 
formed in the year 1769, but after a few years it became extinct. 
In 1770, the cause began to grow very perceptibly, and the array of 
opposition increased, and the private character of our preachers 
was attacked in the most furious manner. The public prints were 
active in defaming the cause of our denomination. Such opposition 
nothing but the divine hand could overcome. But in these things 
lies the secret of the success of truth, the greater the opposition to 
be overcome, the greater the glory and the stronger the evidence 
that it is the God of Israel that giveth us the victory. In the 
month of June, 1770, Mr. Smith baptized in the towns of Notting- 
ham, Brentwood and Stratham, thirty-eight persons. In 1780, Dr. 
Sheppard baptized forty-four persons in one day. In 1846, there 
were seven Associations in this State — all but one were formed in 
the nineteenth century — 107 churches, 91 ministers and 9,320 
members. 

We now come to consider the history of our denomination in the 
State of Maine. This State contains more territory than all the 
other New England States together; its settlements have been 
gradual, and much of it remains yet unsettled. In Mr. Millet's 
history of the Baptists of Maine as given by Benedict, we have a 
brief account of their start and progress, as follows: "Baptist 
sentiments first appeared in Maine in 1681. At this time there was 
peace and prosperity in the province. The war-whoop was not 
heard, disputation and wrangling about claims and titles were at an 
end, and Massachusetts and Maine moved under the same form of 
Government. Massachusetts had spread over the province, not only 
her laws, but her religious intolerance. This spirit had already 
erected its battlements against the wild fanaticism of all sects who 
did not bow to its authority. 

Kittery, the oldest town in the province, incorporated in 1647, 
was selected as the place first to raise a Baptist standard. The first 
avowal of Baptist sentiments tested the charity in the other sects. 
As in Massachusetts, so in Maine, the Congregationalists were 
recognized by law as the Standing Order. They viewed the Baptists 
in the light of religious fanatics, and regarded their doctrine and 
influence as deleterious to the welfare of both society and religion. 
It was soon, however, that in the town of Kittery there were 
several persons professing to be Baptists. Whence they came is 
now unknown. In the course of events an occasion offered them 
an opportunity of church communion, agreeable to their own 
theological views. The nearest Baptist Church was at Boston, 
Massachusetts, over which the Rev. Isaac Hull then presided. At 
the advice of Mr. Hull, these Baptists in Kittery united with his 
church. William Screvener being a man of more than ordinary 
talents and devotedly pious, he officiated as leader in their worship. 
The brethren in Kittery and in Boston were satisfied that the Great 



DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 123 



Head of the Church had designed and called him to preach the 
gospel of Christ. He was accordingly licensed by the church in 
Boston, to exercise his gifts in Kittery, or elsewhere as the Provi- 
dence of God might cast him. 

The Baptists in Kittery being now blessed with a minister, and 
situated at so great a distance from Boston, deemed it expedient for 
their own spiritual advantage and for the cause of Christ in the new 
settlements, to unite in a separate church, but their desire was at 
once disappointed by the violence of opposition. 

Moved by the same spiritual despotism which had disturbed the 
Baptists in Massachusetts, Mr. Woodbridge, the minister, and Mr. 
Huck, the magistrate, awakened prejudice and hatred against these 
conscientious disciples in Kittery. Slanderous abuse and legalized 
tyranny was new to be endured by them. Church members 
suffered not alone, but those who assembled with them for worship 
were repeatedly summoned before the magistrate, and by him threat- 
"ened with a fine of five shillings for every such offense in future. 

Alarmed at the success of these incipient efforts of the Baptists, 
the General Assembly of the province took the business of oppres- 
sion into their own hands. At the August session of the council, 
1682, Mr. Scrivener was tried and placed under bonds for good 
behavior. Mr. Scrivener, regarding the precepts and examples of 
Christianity the only just rule of conduct, did not comply with the 
requisitions of this court. A fine was imposed upon him of ten 
pounds. All of these proceedings did not crush the spirit and zeal 
of Scrivener and his brethren in this place ; for by the assistance 
of Elder Isaac Hull, of Boston, a Church of Christ was formed in 
gospel order in September, 1682. Storm and violence, fines and 
imprisonments were now experienced by this little band of disciples. 
Their sufferings and persecutions were so great that in less than one 
year from its organization the members became disheartened and 
overcome, and it dissolved, and the members became scattered 
"like sheep upon the mountains." 

To avoid any further litigation and oppression, Mr. Scrivener, 
accompanied by his family and some of his suffering brethren, left 
the province and removed to South Carolina, where he gathered a 
Baptist Church together, which subsequently became a flourishing 
society. 

The next Church formed in this State was in the year 1764. 
Pedo-baptist principles reigned supreme for near eighty years, when 
the Lord caused a shaking among the dry bones in this great valley, 
under the prophecy or preaching of Elders Case and Potter. The 
current of public sentiment changed in favor of the Baptists, and 
Churches were formed in rapid succession in different parts of the 
State. The Baptists after this time were not harassed by civil pro- 
cess and fines, but continued to be slandered by their enemies as 
they always have been. In 1847, there were fourteen Associations 
in this State — all except two were formed in the nineteenth century; 



124 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



one of the number is marked Old School — 306 Churches, 231 min- 
isters, and 21,686 members. 

We will now take some notice of the Baptists in Nova Scotia and 
New Brunswick, which lies contiguous to the State of Maine. The 
Baptists made their appearance in these provinces late in the eigh- 
teenth century, and were generally, if not altogether, of the mixed 
communion type; and some of their early preachers were Pedo- 
baptists, who assisted in constituting churches, ordaining ministers, 
and supplying churches. This state of things gradually wore out, 
and finally the Associations refused all churches, correspondence with 
them that would not forsake the practice. The churches and Asso- 
ciations that claim to be regular Baptists occupy a close communion 
position. Their strength in 1 846 was two large Associations, one hun- 
dred and seventy churches, and about fourteen thousand members. 

We now come to notice the progress of the Baptists in the great 
State of New York. 

About the middle of the eighteenth century the Baptists began to 
spread into different parts of this State, although there were some 
Baptists collected together much earlier than the time above stated. 
Morgan Edwards, by Benedict, gives the following account of the 
first Baptist company that appeared in this State, viz.: William 
Wickenden of Providence, Rhode Island, during his ministry there, 
frequently preached in this city, where, at one time, as a reward for 
his services, he was imprisoned four months. At what time this 
event took place can not be ascertained; it must have been before 
1669, for in that year Mr. Wickenden died. From this period we 
hear nothing of the Baptists here until about 1712, when Mr. Val- 
entine Wightmon, of Groton, repaired to the place by the invitation of 
Mr. Nicholas Eyers, and continued his visits about two years. His 
preaching place was Mr. Eyers' house. Under his ministry many 
became serious, and some hopefully converted — their names are 
omitted. Some time in 1814 Mr. Wightmon baptized five women 
of the converts in the night, for fear of the mob, who had been very 
troublesome. While the event was going on the following text 
dropped into Mr. Eyers' mind: "No man doeth anything in secret 
when he himself seeketh to be known openly." Accordingly he and 
the six brethren put off their design till morning, when Eyers waited 
on the Governor (Burnet,) told the case and solicited protection, 
which the Governor granted, and was as good as his word, for he 
and many of the gentry came to the water side, and the rite was 
performed in peace. The Governor, as he stood by, was heard to 
say, "This is the ancient way of baptizing, and in my opinion much 
preferred to the practice of modern times." 

The above twelve persons called Mr. Eyers to preach for them, 
by whose ministry the audience so increased that a private house 
would not hold them. Accordingly they purchased a lot. and built 
a meeting house on it some time in the year 1728. 

The next company of Baptists is found at Oyster Bay, on Long 



DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 125 



Island. The first discovery of any Baptists in this place was found 
about 1700, when one William Rhodes, an unordained minister of 
this order, began to preach here, having fled hither to avoid perse- 
cution, but from what place does not appear. By his ministry a 
number were converted, among whom was Robert Feeks, who, in 
1724, was ordained pastor of the church, which had previously 
been organized by elders from Rhode Island. In 1741, Elder Feeks 
wrote to his brethren in Newport as follows: "God has begun a 
good work among us, which I hope he will carry on. There have 
been about seventeen added to our little band in about three \veeks." 

The third company of Baptists, as far as we are informed, com- 
menced their operations in Duchess county, about seventy or eighty 
miles above the city of New York, in Fishkill and a number of 
other places which lie between the Hudson river and the Connecticut 
line. Elders Dakin, Waldo and Bullock were the leaders in this 
region, which for many years was a distinguished resort for Baptists, 
when there were but few in any other part of the State. As it is 
only our purpose to notice the most important events which attended 
the settlement and organization of Baptist churches in the different 
States in early times, we must omit giving in detail their progress in 
this State, and only notice their increase from time to time. 

Mr. Benedict says: "In 1790, the number of churches had 
increased to about sixty ; there was something more than that num- 
ber of ministers and the communicants were four thousand. For 
the next twenty years the increase was much more rapid ; so that by 
1812, the denomination showed an aggregate of 252 churches, 170 
ministers, and 17,908 members. 

When Allen's first Register was published in 1833, the churches 
had increased to about 600, the ministers to about that number, and 
the members to 60,000. In 1847, there were 45 Associations, 825 
churches, 852 ministers and 88,615 members. The number of these 
that were Old School we have no means of knowing. 

New Jersey was distinguished in early times for containing a num- 
ber of old and very respectable churches and a number of ministers 
of eminence and high character. The first settlers, whether minis- 
ters or laymen, emigrated from Europe, and most from Wales. 

According to Morgan Edwards' account of the early history of 
the denomination in the State, about 1660, some few Baptists were 
found among the early settlers, and by different arrivals they con- 
tinued very slowly to increase for about thirty years, by which time 
they had gained sufficient strength to organize in a church capacity. 
As the first bill of rights, under the administration of Lord Berk- 
ley and Sir George Cartaret, established full liberty of conscience to 
all religious sects that should behave well, this favorable feature in 
the government of this new colony induced many men of different 
opinions to flee from the oppression of other regions to enjoy the 
mild shade of religious toleration which, in the good old Jerseys, 
had always been enjoyed. 



P26 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



Middletown church. This body was formed in 1688, but of how 
many members does not appear. Piscataway church was organized 
in 1689, by the assistance of Rev. Thomas Keullingsworth, and was 
the second one formed in the State. As its records were destroyed 
in the revolutionary war, its early history is obscured. Cohansey 
Church was formed in 1690, partly of members that had emigrated 
from a Baptist Church in Ireland. The Baptists were never inter- 
rupted by the secular authorities in this State. We find there were 
three churches formed in this State in the seventeenth century. In 
1845 hfer Associations were five, with thirty-five churches, one hun- 
dred and ten ministers, and twelve thousand and sixty-two members. 
Delaware River designated as Old School. 

Pennsylvania was originally settled by the Quakers under the 
guidance of the famous William Penn, whose father was an English 
Baptist. The first Baptist emigrants to this State were from Rhode 
Islnnd. Mr. Edwards says: "In 1684, Thomas Dungan removed 
from Rhode Island and settled at a place called Cold Springs, in 
Bucks county, between Briston and Trenton. This Baptist preacher 
and pioneer was probably accompanied by associates of his own faith 
in his removal to what was then regarded as a long journey to the 
South. Here he founded a church of his own order, which in the end 
was absorbed by another company of Baptists. Elder Dungan's 
settlement in this colony was but three years after William Penn 
obtained his patent from Charles II, and one year after the death 
of the founder of the Rhode Island government. There were, says 
Dr. Samuel Jones, in 1707, but seven churches in North America, 
five of which were in this State. The Philadelphia Association was 
formed in that year. It seems that the Baptists received but little 
trouble in this State from the court or powers ; their troubles were 
from a different source. 

The Quakers, who were very numerous among the first settlers, 
fell into contention about doctrine, and division ensued; and part of 
them contended that the Scriptures taught baptism, and the Lord's 
Supper, and many of those fell into connection with the Baptists; 
and it is said the old order being in the ascendancy in the State or 
province, did persecute the Baptists and the other party. And a 
historian has said that only the Baptist denomination stands without 
being charged with persecuting. There appears to have been sev- 
eral different shades of Baptists in this State. The Mennonite Bap- 
tists had several churches in early time, and still exist in much 
greater numbers. The Tunkers, or Seventh-Day Baptists, came to 
this country from Holland early in the seventeenth century, and 
still exist. There are twenty regular (as they call themselves) Bap- 
tist Associations in this State, three hundred and forty-two churches, 
two hundred and seventy-nine ministers, and twenty-nine thousand 
one hundred and eight members. Old School not designated. 

Delaware became an independent State in 1776; it contained 
three little counties, New Castle, Kent and Sussex; in New Castle 



DUEING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTUEY. 127 



there was a Baptist Church as early as 1703; they settled near a 
place called Iron Hill ; from thence their sentiments spread in differ- 
ent directions, and took root in other States. This society was from 
Wales, from which country they received frequent accessions for a 
good many years. Morgan Edwards in his history says: "We 
must cross the Atlantic and hand in Wales, where it had its begin- 
ning in the following manner: In the spring of 1701 several Bap- 
tists in the counties of Pembrook and Caermartham resolved to go to 
America; and as one of the company, Thomas Griffeth, was a min- 
ister, they were advised to be constituted a church; they took the 
advice; the instrument of their confederation was in being in 1770, 
but is now lost or mislaid. The names of the confederates follow. 
These sixteen persons, which may be styled a church emigrant, met 
at Milford Haven, in the month of June, 1701, embarked on board 
the good ship William and Mary, and on the eighth of September 
following, landed in Philadelphia. The brethren there treated them 
courteously and advised them to settle about Pennepeck; thither 
they went and there they continued about a year and a half, during 
which time their church increased to thirty-seven. In 1703 they 
removed to Newcastle county and settled on what is called the 
Welsh tract, and built a small meeting house where the same house 
now occupied stands. The pulpit of this church was filled by men 
of Welsh extraction seventy years. The Baptist growth in this 
little State was about the same as in other parts of the country; 
churches were constituted from time to time, that when the Dela- 
ware Association was formed, which was previous to the year 1798, 
they numbered six churches; and Mr. Benedict says, in 1812, their 
number of members was four hundred and eighty. He reports 
them much reduced at the date of the publication of his last history, 
and as being but one Association in the State; and complains of 
their anti-mission spirit in hindering the fulfillment of the Savior's 
command to preach the gospel in all the world, to every creature as 
far as they can do it; and while they thus act they can never pros- 
per. Consequently he supposes the success of Christ's Kingdom 
depends on human effort, a world-pleasing doctrine. 

Maryland seems to have been a Catholic colony, and a hard soil 
for Baptist sentiments to take root. The first church of the Baptist 
denomination was formed at a place called Chestnut Pidge in the 
year 1742, and held to the principle of the General Baptists, and 
continued that principle and the laying on of hands for a number of 
years, when they were visited occasionally by preachers of the Par- 
ticular Order, whose preaching produced a change in the sentiments 
of a portion of the members, who left the old body and formed 
themselves into a church, who afterwards joined the Philadelphia 
Association. There were churches formed in different parts or set- 
tlements, and in 1782 the Salisbury Association was formed, but the 
number of churches it contained we have no means of knowing. 



128 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



Benedict says that in 1812 it contained fourteen churches, four min- 
isters and eight hundred and sixty-nine members. 

Noah Davis and Leonard Fletcher, of Philadelphia, were em- 
ployed as domestic missionaries within its bounds many years since.; 
They are said since to have come out against all institutions of the 
kind. 

The Baltimore Association was formed in 1792, and comprised 
six churches. Baltimore and Washington and all the surrounding 
country were in the bounds of this Association. Benedict says : 
"The Baltimore community fell into the principles and practice of the 
the missionary age, in which it operated to a moderate extent until 
1836. The famous Black Rock Resolutions, which a majority of 
delegates voted to adopt, threw them into trouble, and in the end 
rent the body asunder." This seems to have been the first formal 
declaration in this part of the country against those practices that 
were then filling, and afterwards did fill, many Baptist communities 
with bad men and unwarrantable practices; all of which have been 
adopted more for the purpose of pleasing men and making prose- 
lytes than to fulfill the divine injunction. The resolutions adopted 
at the Black Rock meeting, as given by Benedict, are as follows: 

Wheras, a number of churches in this Association have departed 
from the practice of the same, by following cunningly devised fables, 
uniting with and encouraging others to unite in worldly societies, to 
the great grief of other churches of this body, and as there can not 
be any fellowship between principles so essentially different ; there- 
fore, 

Resolved, That this Association cannot hold fellowship with such 
churches, and all that have done so be dropped from our minutes. 

These resolutions set a precedent, no doubt, for other Baptists to 
follow, who were aggrieved by the same practice pursued by their 
brethren. Many of the churches and associations in the Western 
States had declared non-fellowship with those institutions some years 
previous to that. 

The strength of the Baptists in Maryland in 1846, was four associa- 
tions, forty-three churches, twenty-five ministers, and two thousand, 
four hundred and ninety-six members. 

In the District of Columbia the Baptists took their start shortly 
after the government was established there. It was constituted May 
7, 1802, in the hall of the Treasury Department, by the assistance 
of Elder Jeremiah Moore of Virginia, Lewis Richards of Balti- 
more, William Parkinson, then a chaplain to Congress, and Adam 
Freeman. Their number was six. The Church in Alexandria was 
constituted in 1803. There were five churches reported in 1846, 
with 673 members. 

The colony of Virginia was settled so early as to receive the title 
of " Old Dominion ;" yet our denomination gained but a small foot- 
hold until the eighteenth century. According to Morgan Edwards, 
in 1768, there were then but about ten Baptist churches in all parts 



DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 129 



of Virginia. These were generally in the upper part of the State, 
between the Blue Ridge and waters of the Potomac. Bat they soon 
began to increase very rapidly, and by 1790, according to Aspleind's 
Register, the churches had increased to two hundred and ten, their min- 
isters to about two hundred and fifty, and their communicants to 
twenty thousand; and in 1812 their numerical strength had increased 
to upwards of thirty-five thousand • and by the time the division took 
place on the Mission System their number had increased to upward 
of fifty-nine thousand. 

Probably few if any of the original settlers in Virginia were Bap- 
tists, nor do we find any of this denomination in that part of the 
country until more than a century after its settlement. The accounts 
of their origin in the State vary, and the precise time is uncertain. 
The following is the most reliable : " In consequence of letters from 
Virginia, Robert Nordin and Thomas White were ordained in Lon- 
don, in May, 1714, and soon sailed for Virginia; but Mr. White 
died on the way and Mr. Nordin arrived in Virginia and gathered 
a church at a place called Barbee, in the county of the Isle of Wight. 
There were probably a number of Baptists settled in this place 
before the arrival of Nordin, by whose request and for the service of 
whom he and White were ordained and undertook the distant voy- 
age, but who or how many these were, or how long they had been 
there, does not appear. " 

It seems that not a great while after this, there was a church con- 
stituted in the county of Surry, a portion of these churches emi- 
grated to North Carolina, where they gained many large accessions. 
These were General Baptists, but shortly after they went to Caro- 
lina, they became identified with the Particular Order. 

The next appearance of the Baptists in this State was in the 
northern part of it, in the counties of Berkley and Loudon ; they 
occupied the ground afterwards occupied by the Regular Baptists. 
Between the years 1743 and 1756, three churches were gathered in 
these counties. Many circumstances took place that seemed to favor 
the spread of Baptist sentiments that would be interesting to the 
reader, but our limits forbid their insertion. The Separate Baptists 
began to flourish in Virginia about these times who seemed to be 
more offensive to the clergy of the religious sects than the Regulars 
were ; the reasons assigned by historians, are, that the Regular 
Baptists had obtained a license from the General Court under the 
toleration laws of England for several counties, and the impression 
soon became common that their permit to preach was universal, or 
general, throughout the State ; and another reason was, the Regu- 
lars were not considered as fanatical in their religious devotions. 
Churches were formed in different parts of the State, and about the 
year 1760, quite a reformation sprang up under the preaching of 
Mr. Thomas, who was a man of more than ordinary abilities in 
those times, and was very gifted and zealous in the cause of truth, 
and his labors were wonderfully blessed. The forebodings of a 
9 



130 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



display of God's power, in the salvation of sinners in this priest- 
ridden land, became now apparent. Cases are related by historians 
of several becoming deeply concerned about their souls' salvation, 
who had never before heard any Baptist preaching, but seemed to 
feel that there was something more necessary to constitute them 
true believers in Christ, than they had ever learned under their 
national form of religion ; and hearing much said about those fana- 
tical New Lights, as the Baptists were then called, and being fully 
tired and starving on the husks that the swine did eat, they con- 
cluded to go and hear for themselves, and some of them traveled 
what was then called a great distance, before they met with an 
opportunity of hearing this new doctrine; but when they heard it, 
it was like cold water to the thirsty, or news from a far country, it 
brought to their view a full, sufficient Savior — just such a one as 
suited their helpless and needy case. 

Their preaching was blessed wherever they went, and large acces- 
sions were made to the churches and new ones formed, until the 
party in power became alarmed and aroused ; fearing their craft was 
in danger, they called upon mobs and magistrates to come up to 
suppress this terrible heresy. Baptist preachers were often insulted 
and interrupted while preaching. It is said that Mr. Thomas was 
once taken from the stand while he was preaching, and dragged out 
of the house in a barbarous manner. At another time a malevolent 
fellow attempted to shoot him, but was hindered by the bystanders. 
The slanders and revilings he met with, says Mr. Edwards, were 
innumerable, and if we may judge of a man's prevalency against 
the devil by the rage of the devil's children, Thomas prevailed 
like a prince. 

The Baptists continued to increase rapidly, and many eminent 
preachers were raised up among them. About 1770, churches were 
planted west of the Alleghany. Their increase was checked by the 
affairs of the Revolutionary war. Many were called to bear arms 
in defense of their country — which the Baptists never refused to do — 
and the destitute situation of many families caused the brethren 
left at home a great deal of care and attention, which was followed 
by a cold, lifeless time in religion, with both Regulars and Sepa- 
rates. In those days, before and after the war, the Baptists thought 
it no hardship to go fifty or a hundred miles to meeting, or to get a 
preacher to preach for them, and the people of their vicinity; all 
seemed to be alive to the cause of the Redeemer. 

In 1774, an inquiry was made among the Separates whether or 
not all the offices mentioned in Eph. iv: 11, are now in use. 

Two days were spent in debating the subject, and then its decision 
was deferred till the next meeting. This novel subject was dis- 
cussed with warmth and interest, both in their assemblies, and 
during the recess of their session. Jeremiah Walker and Reuben 
Ford each one wrote a pamphlet — the first for, and the other against 
the proposed measure. Both of these men were followed by large 



DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 131 



and respectable parties, and their productions were read in the 
meeting. But the apostolic succession by a large majority, finally 
prevailed, and Samuel Harris was solemnly invested with that high 
and dignified function. A new office now being created in the 
church, the duties of which not being set forth in the Scriptures, 
they must be defined by the church, and the manner of dealing with 
this high functionary must be defined also. The work assigned to 
this apostle, was to visit the churches for the purpose of performing, 
or, at least, superintending the work of ordination, and to set in 
order the things that are wanting, and he was ordered to report the 
success of his mission at the next Association. They ordered that 
if their. apostle should transgress, he may be dealt with by any 
church where the transgression was committed, but must call help 
from two or three neighboring churches to inquire into the matter, 
and if by them found a transgressor, a general conference of all the 
churches should be called to restore or excommunicate him. The 
first report was rather unfavorable, and no successors were ever 
appointed. 

The division that took place between the Regulars and Separates 
continued for about twenty years, notwithstanding efforts had been 
made for a union. In 1787, measures were taken by both parties 
for the adjustment of the difficulties, or disagreements. A com- 
mittee of the Separates and a delegation from the Ketocton Asso- 
ciation of Regulars met at a place called Dover Meeting House, in 
Goochland county, where the matter was discussed, and found that 
a large number of the Separates held to the same articles of faith 
that the Regulars did. They finally united upon the same articles 
of faith, and agreed henceforth to be called the United Baptist 
Church in Virginia. 

The first settlers in this State were from England, and of the 
English Church. They enforced the same laws in Virginia in 
respect to religion, that ruled in the mother country, and if they 
never persecuted the Baptists and Quakers unto death, as the Puri- 
tans did in New Nngland, yet they caused them to undergo great 
suffering and privations. According to Benedict, the first instance 
of actual imprisonment that took place in this State was in the 
county of Spottsylvania, on the 4th of June, 1768. John Walter, 
Lewis Craig, James Childs and others, were seized by the Sheriff 
and brought before the magistrates and bound to appear at court, 
which they did, and were sentenced to preach no more in the county 
or go to jail ; the first proposition they refused, and the latter was 
forced upon them, and while they were going to the prison, they 
sang the hymn, " Broad is the road that leads to death," etc. This 
solemn procession and the undaunted manner in which these men 
bore their sentence, for no offense, produced a prodigious offect on 
all who witnessed the scene, and had a powerful reaction in favor 
of the cause for which they suffered. They lay in jail some of them 
four weeks, and some longer, but were all finally released without 



132 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



restrictions. But during their confinement the jail yard was made 
a place of daily resort by the astonished and inquiring multitude, 
and where they heard the gospel of the Son of God preached 
through the grates of the prison, with such force and power that 
their prejudice was quelled and many of them became open advo- 
cates for the cause of truth. In this manner the persecution con- 
tinued until thirty of their ministers were imprisoned, and some of 
them as often as four times, until at length they secured the favor 
of Patrick Henry, who, though a member of the State establish- 
ment, yet being always the friend of liberty, he espoused their cause 
and continued to be their unwavering friend until their complete 
emancipation was effected. 

The Baptists in many parts of this State, after the war, rose in 
the ascendency of any other religious denomination. 

In 1847, there were thirty-six Associations, six hundred and 
sixty-four churches, four hundred and three ministers, and eighty- 
five thousand two hundred and thirty-nine members of the Baptist 
order in Virginia. 

AVe now take a view of our denomination in North Carolina. 
According to Morgan Edwards, the first church which ever existed 
within its bounds, was gathered by one Paul Palmer, about the year 
1727, at a place called Perquimas, on Chowan river, towards the 
northeast corner of the State. The second church was formed in 
1742, in the county of Halifax. The third church seems to have 
been formed of a company of Separates from New England, and 
from the accounts given of their sentiments, they seem to have 
occupied the ground religiously that the Separate Baptists do to this 
day. The Separates increased very rapidly. The Sandy Creek 
Church was first formed of sixteen members, and in a short time, 
says Mr. Edwards, it increased to six hundred and six. The Sandy 
Creek Association w T as formed in 1758. The Kehukee Association 
of Regular Baptists was formed in 1765, which, with the Sandy 
Creek, have maintained their existence until now. These two Asso- 
ciations effected a union and became in full fellowship with each 
other in 1772. The Baptists in those days increased rapidly in all 
the colonies. Churches and Associations were formed in rapid 
succession in this State. The great revival in 1800 and some years 
after, increased their strength, so that their influence has been felt 
in every department of life. There were according to Benedict, in 
1846, thirty-three Associations, six hundred and forty churches, 
four hundred and fourteen ministers, and thirty-eight thousand 
seven hundred and seventy-one members. 



DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 133 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

The early settlers in South Carolina, says Morgan Edwards, by 
Benedict, a considerable portion of them were Baptists. They came 
from the west of England with Lord Cardross and Mr. Blake, and 
from Piscataway, in the- district of Maine. Of the former, some 
settled about Ashley and Cooper Rivers, others about the mouth of 
the Edisto River. The latter settled at a place called Summerto, on 
the Cooper River and at a small distance from Charleston. Here 
they were formed into a church under the care of Elder Screven, 
whither a number of his brethren fled from the intolerable laws of 
the New England Pedo-baptists. This church, which was called 
the Charleston Church, was formed in 1683. It is said by a writer 
that the Baptists from Piscataway settled here first, and had formed 
the church before their brethren from England arrived, and that 
the small body which had been formed, received considerable addi- 
tion on their arrival. During the next ten years the most of the 
members had become located in the direction where the city of 
Charleston now stands, which made it necessary to remove the seat 
of the church to the town, where it still exists. 

There were Baptists scattered through other settlements of the 
colony, and it is said by some historians that a church was formed 
of Baptists emigrating from England at the same time, which was 
called Euhaw r . 

It seems that Baptist principles in the colony, as in all other new 
countries, for a time progressed slowly, yet their foothold w r as per- 
manent, and their impressions lasting. For nearly a century they 
had only increased to seven churches; but in twenty years after 
this period they had increased to sixty-six churches, forty-six 
ordained, and twenty-seven licensed preachers, and about four thou- 
sand communicants. 

During the next twenty years their increase had more than 
doubled that of the former ; and in 1833, near the time when the 
division took place on the mission system, Mr. Allen's Register 
makes the total of membership in this State, between twenty-eight 
and twenty -nine thousand. 

According to Mr. Benedict, the number of Associations in 1846 
were sixteen, four hundred and twenty churches, two hundred and 
thirty-four ministers and forty-two thousand one hundred and four 
members. 

The first appearance of Baptists in Georgia was about the year 
1757, in the country near Savannah. Some of them had emigrated 
from the mother country, and others seem to have been converts of 
Mr. Whitfield, who was operating and preaching in that place at 
that time. In 1772, according to Mr. Edwards, there were in the 
low countries of this colony as many as forty Baptist families, in 



134 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



which were found about fifty baptized members, who had come 
hither from the mother country or from the other colonies. 

The second company of Baptists came into this colony about 
1770. It commenced its operations high up in the country. It 
spread over the region between Savannah and Augusta. This set- 
tlement of the denomination was made under the late Elder E. 
Botsford, an English emigrant, who spent a long life of usefulness 
in the cause of truth, and finished his course as pastor of the Church 
of Georgetown, South Carolina. It is said of him during his min- 
istry in Georgia, that he visited many new settlements where 
Baptist preaching had hitherto been unknown; and on one occa- 
sion he was going to fill an appointment in one of these new 
settlements and fell in with a Mr. Savidge. He inquired of him the 
way to the place he wished to go, and received answers accordingly. 
Savidge says : " I suppose you are the minister who is to preach at 
Kiokee?" — (Savidge was a High Churchman.) 

Mr. Botsford— "Yes, Sir. Will you go?" 

Savidge — " No. I am not fond of the Baptists. They think 
nobody is baptized but themselves." 

Botsford — " Have you been baptized?" 

Savidge — " To be sure I have according to the rule." 

Botsford — " How do you know?" 

Savidge — " How do I know ? Why my parents told me I was. 
That is the way I know." 

Botsford — " Then you do not know only by the information of 
others. 

After this short parley, the minister rode on and left his opponent 
to meditate on the short but peculiar interview. How do you know f 
kept running in his mind, and harrassed him continually until 
he came out fully on Baptist ground. He was baptized by Mr, 
Marshall, and immediately began to preach the same doctrine he 
had opposed. 

Botsford's "how do you know?" Mr. Savidge used to say, first 
put him in a train of thinking, which ended in his conversion to 
the Baptist faith. The first church formed in this State is said to 
have been in 1772. It seems that the New Lights, who left the 
north about fifteen years before, and going south slowly, fired the 
country with their zeal and promulgated Baptist principles, as held 
by most Baptists in those days, had now reached this State, and 
under their preaching churches were formed in rapid succession. 
According to Mr. Benedict, the first Association in this State was 
formed in 1784, which was called the Georgia Association. 

The Baptists met with no serious opposition in this State or in 
South Carolina, further than the influence of other denominations 
without the authority of law could affect them. It seems that the 
blacks who became Baptists in early times were persecuted by the 
whites, alleging that their assemblies were to concoct arrangements 
for insurrection. I find that Mr. Benedict has given a more 



DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 135 



detailed account of the many divisions and splits in churches and 
Associations in this State on the mission system and benevolent 
institutions, than any of the old States; yet in his statistical tables 
he makes no distinction. The increase of the Baptist denomination 
in this State, since the date of the first Association, lias been very 
rapid. In 1812 there were but four Associations, and in 1846 they 
had forty-six Associations, four hundred and fifty-eight churches, 
two hundred and forty-one ministers, and twenty-four thousand four 
hundred and forty-seven members. What proportion are Old 
School, we have no means of knowing at present, but if we receive 
information giving their strength, which we hope we shall, we will 
insert it. 

Having gone through all the old States, we will now take the new 
States in rotation, beginning with Alabama. And as the Baptist 
denomination has taken its rise in this State within the present 
century, the events attending its progress are better known than 
those events in the older States were. The first church formed in 
this territory, according to Mr. Holcombs' history, was in 1810. 
There was but little increase until after 1816, when a continuous 
flood of emigration poured into the State, and in 1820 there were 
about fifty churches ; in the next ten years they had increased to 
about two hundred churches, and ninety-five ministers, and about 
eight thousand members. According to Holcomb, the first Associa- 
tion formed in this State was in 1818, called the Cahawba Associa- 
tion. The increase since that time has been very rapid. In 1816 
the number of Associations were thirty-one, seven hundred and ten 
churches, three hundred and one ministers, and forty-one thousand 
seven hundred and seventy-nine members. 

Mississippi claims our attention next. The most authentic 
information that we have seen in relation to the time the first Bap- 
tist settlements were made, and the first church formed in this 
State, is in a number of articles written by J. G. Jones, published 
in the extra number of the Messenger, present volume, and as his 
account of this matter will be connected with the history, I shall 
give the statistics of the denomination as I find them given in Bene- 
dict's history. 

The Mississippi Association was formed in 1807, but the increase 
of the Baptists in this State for some time was rather slow. Accord- 
ing to Allen's Register, as late as 1833, there were but three Asso- 
ciations wholly in this State ; the number was doubled in the next 
three years. In 1846 they had increased to twenty-four Associations, 
four hundred and fifty-eight churches, two hundred and forty-one 
ministers, and twenty-four thousand four hundred and forty-seven 
members. 

The State of Florida, in 1846, contained two Associations, forty- 
six churches, twenty-three ministers, and one thousand seven 
hundred and six members. 

Louisiana being first settled by Catholics, the Baptists were slow 



136 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OP CHRIST. 



in settling there. According to Allen's Register for 1833, the 
number of churches were sixteen, and the membership upwards of 
seven hundred. The Louisiana Association bears date from 1821. 
The number in 1846 had increased to six Associations, eighty-eight 
churches, fifty-nine ministers, and three thousand six hundred and 
nine members. 

Arkansas. Our accounts of the settlement of the Baptists in this 
State and their progress are confined to a less period of time than 
twenty years. Spring River Association was formed in 1829. Mr. 
Benedict thinks the opposing party to missions have had things 
pretty much their own way. They had, in 1846, seven Associations, 
eighty Churches, forty-six ministers, and two thousand six hundred 
and fifty-five members. 

Texas. Our historians give us no account of the time precisely, 
or at least no correct account of the formation of the first Baptist 
Church in this Republic. One account is that the first Association 
was formed in 1840. This organization, I presume, was the first of 
the Xew School or Mission party. Another account shows that the 
Union Association, which was of the Regular or Old School was 
formed in 1839 ; but the Regulars had a Church there years before 
that. If my memory serves me right, Elder Daniel Parker, of 
Illinois, with a number of his Baptist brethren, was organized as a 
church and emigrated to Texas, about the year 1830, and main- 
tained their church organization in that country. Elder Garrison 
Greenwood, a Regular Baptist minister, emigrated from Illinois to 
Texas about the year 1833, and shared in the labors of the ministry 
with Elder Parker, and in 1838, when the Union Association was 
formed, they were eight churches strong. The strength of the Bap- 
tist community in this State was, in 1846, four Association-, fifty- 
seven churches, thirty-three ministers, and thirteen hundred and 
eighty-eight members. 

Having passed through the Southern new States, we now return 
to the State of Tennessee. The Holston Association was the first 
formed in this State, which was in the year 1786; the churches 
were in the eastern part of the State, bordering on the line of North 
Carolina and Virginia. This is the only Association that was formed 
previous to the present century. Churches were formed in Middle 
Tennessee in the previous century, and increased very rapidly about 
the commencement of the present century. In 1822 their churches 
were one hundred and fifty, ministers one hundred and seventeen, 
and communicants a fraction over ten thousand. In 1846 they 
numbered forty-five Associations, seven hundred and ninety-eight 
churches, four hundred and ninety-one ministers, and forty-three 
thousand one hundred and fifty-seven members. 

Kentucky. Many of the early settlers of this State were Bap- 
tists. Some came as early as 1775, and several Baptist ministers, 
among whom were the late John Taylor and Lewis Lunsford. After 
visiting the new settlements and preaching for them they returned 



DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 137 



to Virginia without constituting any churches. About 1781 several 
Baptist preachers and many brethren migrated to this new country. 
A journey from Virginia to Kentucky was at that time a tedious and 
hazardous business, and many lost their lives in the attempt. The 
church at Gilbert's Creek was organized in Spottsylvania county, 
Virginia, under the pastoral charge of Lewis Craig, and removed 
in a colony to Gilbert's Creek, south of Kentucky river, according 
to Aspleind, in 1783. Several other churches were formed in quick 
succession, so that at the close of 1785 there were three Associations, 
twelve churches and thirteen ministers, among whom was the late 
Ambrose Dudley. The Regulars and Separates both settled in this 
State in early times, and the same scenes which were enacted in 
Virginia and North Carolina took place here. The Elkhorn and 
South Kentucky embraced the substance of the two parties. By 
these bodies a reconciliation and union was effected. The meeting 
for this purpose was held at Howard's Creek Meeting House, in 
Clark county, in 1801. A. Dudley, J. Price, J. Redding, D. Bar- 
row and R. Elkin represented the Regulars; D. Ramey, Thomas J. 
Clinton, M. Bledsoe and S. Johnson the Separates. When the 
union was effected the term United BajMsts was agreed upon as a 
substitute for the old names, by which name the larger portion of 
the churches and Associations were called for many years. In 1812, 
according to Benedict, there were in this State thirteen Associations, 
two hundred and sixty-three churches, one hundred and forty-eight 
ministers and a fraction over seventeen thousand members. Allen's 
Register for 1836 makes the Baptist communicants over thirty-five 
thousand. The increase for the succeeding ten years seems to have 
been very great. In 1846 she numbered fifty-eight Associations, 
nine hundred and four churches, five hundred and sixty-two min- 
isters, and sixty-eight thousand eight hundred and eleven members. 

Missouri. It seems that a number of Baptist families emigrated 
from the Carolinas and Kentucky in early times, while the country 
yet belonged to Spain, and their preachers were often threatened 
with the Calaboza, the Spanish prison, but through the lenity of 
the commandentes, they were permitted to escape. Their first Asso- 
ciation bears date 1816, which was called Bethel. It was constituted 
in Cape Girardeau county. Since that time they have increased 
rapidly. According to Allen's Register for 1833, the Baptist com- 
municants were about five thousand. In 1846 they had thirty-four 
Associations, five hundred and eleven churches, three hundred and 
twelve ministers and twenty-two thousand one hundred and ninety- 
one members. 

Iowa. Our information in relation to Baptist affairs in this State 
is very limited. The first church constituted in this State was in 
the year 1836, which was Big Creek; its number of members was 
sixteen. These were Regular Baptists opposed to missions on the 
new T patent plan. In 1840 the Des Moines River Association was 
formed with five churches, all Old School, and in 1858 contained 



138 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



ten churches and over two hundred members. In 1846 there were 
but three Associations, two of which were favorable to missions. 
Their whole number of churches were fifty, ministers thirty-two 
and members one thousand one hundred and forty-eight. There 
have been several Associations formed in that State since, but their 
statistics we have not got. The Baptist communities in Iowa and 
Wisconsin have been formed since the division or separation be- 
tween the Old and New Schools, and most of the churches and 
Associations are of the New School, whose history we are not 
anxious to write; yet we know that the Old School has one Asso- 
ciation in this State, and think that it is the Northwestern, but we 
have no late statistics of her strength and standing. 

Illinois. There were Baptists among the first settlers in this 
northwestern territory of Illinois, and it is said that churches were 
formed in the previous century. There were Associations formed in 
this country early in the present century. 

The only work that I have seen containing a history of the Illi- 
nois Baptists is Mr. Benedict's. He has given it, no doubt, accord- 
ing to the best information he could obtain, and the general progress 
of the denomination, as given by him, is pretty correct; but from 
what Mr. Benedict has given, it would be rather hard to ascertain 
what proportion of the Baptists were Old School and what propor- 
tion were New School. I have quite a general knowledge of the 
progress of the Baptists in this State, having settled there in the 
year 1817, and remained there until 1849. Besides, Elder Peter 
Long, editor of the Western Evangelist, has furnished me with a 
list of the Old School Associations and their probable strength. 

The opposition to the mission system took place among the Illi- 
nois Baptists in early times, and the progress of the New School for 
many years was not equal to that of the Old School or Regulars. 
The Regulars, from time to time, had their revivals and times of 
prosperity, and their increase, for a sparsely settled country, during 
those revivals, was very grert. The Muddy River Association, in 
the years 1826 and 1827, experienced the out-pouring of God's 
spirit in the salvation of sinners to a very extraordinary degree. 

The East Fork church, in the year — 25, if my memory serves 
me right, reported seventeen members to the Association, and the 
next year she reported one hundred; and the increase in other 
churches was very great. In 1840 a revival took place in the Salem 
Association, in the Military Tract, and a great many of the churches 
received large accessions of new converts. All of those revivals 
were under the preaching of salvation by grace and not of works. 

Elder P. Long has furnished us with the number of Associations, 
but not the number of churches that belong to each. 

We will give the names of the different Associations, and the date 
of their organization where it is known : 

The Illinois Association was formed in 1809, which w*as the first 
in the State. Southern Illinois— Muddy River, 1819. Bethel, 1829. 



DUEING THE NINETEENTH CENTUEY. 139 



Bethel, united, claim to be old School. Little Wabash, 1823. Lit- 
tle Fork, Wabash District, 1809. Okaw — two Associations of this 
name, both Old School, — . Kaskaskia, 1830. Vermilion, — . 
Sangamon, 1823. Spoon River, 1830. Morgan, 1830. Salem, 
1835. Northwestern, — . Mount Gilead, 1836. Concord, about 
the same time. Sandy Creek, about 1837. 

The Associations on the east part of the State may contain some 
churches located in Indiana, but there are six or more unassociated 
churches in Illinois. 

Elder Long thinks it not unreasonable to compute the number of 
communicants of the Old School Baptist order in this State at 5,000. 
Mr. Benedict has put the whole number of Associations in Illinois 
at thirty-nine, and we see that twenty of them are Old School. 
This is the only State in which we have been able to give the 
strength of the Old School Baptists, and we find in proportion to 
the whole number that the Old School have as many Associations as 
the New School; but whether the Old School will compare as well 
in other States as they do in Illinois, is uncertain ; some will not, I 
think, while others may overreach it. 

Indiana. In this State we have no means by which we can show 
what proportion of the Baptists are Old School. 

In reading Benedict's history of the Baptists in this State, we are 
sometimes driven to the conclusion that certain Associations are Old 
School from the cool and unfavorable manner in which he speaks of 
them. The first Association formed in this State was the White 
Water Association, organized in 1809. And the progress of the 
Baptist cause in this State up to the present time has certainly been 
very flattering, and we are very sorry that we are not able to state 
what proportion of them are Old School. The opposition to the 
mission system commenced about the same time that it did in Illi- 
nois. The numercial strength of the whole denomination in 1846 
was forty-two Associations, five hundred and ninety-five churches, 
three hundred and ninety-three ministers and twenty-five thousand 
three hundred and ninety-four members. 

Ohio. There was a company of Baptists commenced a settlement 
at the mouth of the Little Miami river about the year 1789. They 
made a practice of meeting together for religious worship, and having 
no preacher among them, the male members conducted the meetings 
by turns. In 1790 they were visited by Elder Stephen Gano, of 
Providence, Rhode Island, who formed the little company into a 
church, which was the first of any denomination raised north of the 
Ohio river, in the country then called the Northwestern Territory. 

The Miami Association was formed in 1797, which stands first on 
the list of Associations formed in this State. This State, in 1846, had 
thirty-eight Associations, six hundred and nine churches, four hun- 
dred and seven ministers and twenty-nine thousand nine hundred 
and seventy-five members. 



140 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



Michigan. The first Baptist settlements made in this State was 
in 1821, and the next year they were formed into a church. 

The Michigan Association was formed in 1827, which was the 
first formed in this State. In 1846 the Baptist denomination num- 
bered ten Associations, one hundred and sixty-six churches, one hun- 
dred and seventeen ministers and eight thousand four hundred and 
thirty-three members. 

The Old School Baptists in California are few and very much 
scattered. We have four organized churches; the first was consti- 
tuted in August, 1854, the second in August, 1855, and the other 
two in the present year. 

We have no statistics from Oregon, but we may receive some- 
thing from there before we close. 

While searching for information relative to the settlement and 
progress of the Baptists in the United States of America, we have 
found some statistics showing the strength and number of the Bap- 
tists in different parts of the Old World. This account is taken 
from Benedict, compiled about 1857. There were at that time in 
Great Britain and Ireland forty-four Associations, eighteen hundred 
churches, thirteen hundred and seventy-two ministers and one hun- 
dred and forty thousand members. In France, Germany and other 
parts of Europe, they have formed no Associations, yet they have 
thirty-two churches, fifty-four ministers and two thousand three 
hundred and seventy-five members. Mennonites, a people who still 
adhere to the plan of doctrine and practice, drawn entirely from the 
Separates by Menno, about the year 1536, which was approbated 
by the scattered Baptists in the German provinces. They have in 
Europe ten Associations, three hundred churches, four hundred min- 
isters and thirty thousand members. Liberia, eight churches, eight 
ministers, and five hundred and sixty-four members. In other parts 
of Africa, that quarter of the globe where Christianity flourished so 
extensively in the early centuries of the Christian era, is now found 
to contain only ten churches, ten ministers and five hundred and 
sixteen members to bear testimony to the truth of the gospel as 
preached there by the Apostles. Bengal has twenty churches, sixty- 
one ministers and twelve hundred and seven members. In other 
parts of Asia, seventy-six churches, thirty-four ministers and seven 
thousand and twenty-nine members. Jamaica and other West India 
islands, here it was where the missionaries, in 1844, according to 
Mr. Weston, were preaching the leadership and ticket system to make 
converts. They have ninety-eight churches, one hundred and forty- 
six ministers and thirty-six thousand three hundred and ninety 
members. 

The grand total of Baptists throughout the whole world is as fol- 
lows: United States and British Provinces, six hundred and four- 
teen Associations, ten thousand nine hundred and fourteen churches, 
seven thousand three hundred and seventy-nine ministers and seven 
hundred and seventy-six thousand three hundred and seventy-one 



DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 141 



members. Minor parties in British Provinces and United States, 
fonr thousand eight hundred and twelve churches, three thousand 
eight hundred and ninety-six ministers and four hundred and twen- 
ty-two thousand eight hundred and eighty-three members. Foreign 
Baptists, fifty-six Associations, two thousand three hundred and 
forty-four churches, two thousand and eighty-five ministers and 
two hundred and eighteen thousand and eighty-one members. 
Grand total, six hundred and seventy Associations, eighteen thou- 
sand and seventy churches, thirteen thousand three hundred and 
fifty-seven ministers and one million four hundred and seventeen 
thousand three hundred and thirty-five members. 

There seems to be no division among the foreign Baptists on the 
subject of the mission system. They are divided into two parties 
on doctrinal sentiments. One party took the name of Particular 
Baptists, and the other took the name of General Baptists. The 
former seems to occupy pretty much the same ground on doctrine 
that the Regulars do here. 

Having finished our history of the church from the Apostles 
down to the present time, with all her ordinances and practices un- 
changed as found and described in the first and second centuries, we 
find to exist in the nineteenth century called and known by the 
name of the Baptist Church of Jesus Christ. It is not the name 
that identifies us with the church established by Christ and his 
Apostles, but ouv faith and practice. We have shown that a people 
of this character have existed in every century of the christian era, 
separate and apart from the Roman and Greek hierarchies. 

We now, by way of recapitulation, call the attention of the reader 
to the first digressions of the church from the gospel rule of faith 
and practice as given by the Apostles. In very early time the 
Judaizing teachers made an effort to blend Judaism with the gospel 
by insisting that the believing Gentiles should be circumcised. This 
soon had such an effect on the church at Antioch that the Apostles 
at Jerusalem had to be consulted before it could be checked. Paul 
after this said: "The mystery of iniquity doth already work." 
2 Titus ii : 7. After the Apostles were gathered to their fathers, 
while persecution raged, professors of Christianity adhered strictly 
to the injunctions of Christ and his Apostles; but during the time 
from the first to the middle of the second century several tolerant 
princes followed in swift succession ; consequently the persecution of 
the followers of Christ ceased for a time, and Christianity became 
popular, and a desire among the clergy to excel, which growing evil, 
by the middle of the third century, prepared the church to submit 
to a change in the order of the gospel ministry. The officers 
formerly known by the name of Elder, Bishop or Presbyter (terms 
exactly synonymous in the New Testament) became now distin- 
guished by the elevation of the Bishop above his brethren, and each 
of the above terms was carried out into a distinction of places in the 
Christian Church. Out of this grew a kind of deputy priesthood or 



142 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



presbytership, who were sent by the Bishop to hold evening or 
other services in the bounds of his church or diocese. This, with 
the charge of the baptistery, gave importance to his station and office. 
From this proceeded the system of Associations of ministers and 
churches, which at first were formed in Greece, but soon became 
common throughout the empire. The different orders of the min- 
istry now began to use their influence to make the people believe 
that they succeeded to the character, rights and privileges of the 
Jewish priesthood. So far as those ministers were successful, they 
opened a door to the adoption of every abrogated rite; and one 
evidence of their success soon appeared in the adundance of wealth 
conferred on the clergy. Orchard, page 29. 

To cover all this assumption with the appearance of justice and 
reason, they published new doctrines concerning the nature of the 
church and episcopal dignity. One of the principal authors of this 
change in the government of the church was Cyprian, Bishop of 
Carthage (A. D. 254.) Every barrier and safeguard to the church 
was now torn down, and all her power and authority assumed by the 
clery. Usurpations from time to time ensued, which opened a wider 
door for vice and corruption. 

The latter part of the third century seems to have been filled up 
with a train of incidents which prepared the way for the develop- 
ment of the seven-headed and ten-horned beast. Constantine, com- 
ing to the throne early in the fourth century, accelerated its progress 
by granting extraordinary privileges to the clergy by law, which 
effected a union with church and state. 

These corruptions were disapprobated by a great many churches 
and several very learned and eminent ministers. Tertullian, a bishop 
of the Church in Carthage, in Africa, dissented from those corrup- 
tions. Tertullian left the old interest and united himself to a people 
called the Montanists, the followers of one Montanees, who dissented 
from the Church at Carthage. He disapprobated the corruptions of 
the Alexandrian school. A separate congregation of these people 
was formed by Tertullian in Carthage, which continued two hundred 
years. 

About the middle of the third century Xovatian, a presbyter in 
the Church of Rome, dissented from those corruptions, and set up a 
separate interest, which was successful and was known for centuries 
by his name; all of which have been shown in the forepart of this 
work. 

We perceive that when the great body of those professing Chris- 
tianity began to deface the old landmarks, and dig down the gospel 
altars aud set up new ones, the work of man's hands, that God 
reserved a few to himself that would not bow the knee to Baal. 

In the beginning of the nineteenth century we find in America, 
among the people called Baptists, all the ordinances and visible 
attributes of the Church of Christ. The leaven of popularity and 
desire to make gain of godliuees might have been at work among 



DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 143 



some of the ministers and churches, but in relation to the ordinances 
(baptism in particular) we consider them more sound and correct in 
their views of its true import and design than the church was at 
the end of the second century; but how the gold has become dim. 

Early in the nineteenth century two plans for missionary opera- 
tions were adopted by the Baptists. One they called the Foreign 
Mission Society or Board of Foreign Missions. Its appellation 
indicated its objects. The other was called the Home Mission Soci- 
ety or Board of Home Missions. The former in the year 1814, and 
the latter in 1832. The ostensible objects, as declared by themselves, 
were to raise funds to send the gospel to the heathen, and to furnish 
the more destitute parts of America with a settled ministry. To 
accomplish these purposes a stipulated salary to preachers was 
inevitable. Here was a stimulus, not only the preachers already in 
the service, to refuse to preach without a salary but to corrupt the 
new who considered it more popular and easier to preach for a living 
than to grub for it. To reform their outward practices and identify 
them with the church, and then such a mission to some foreign land 
where they thought opportunity might offer for some good specula- 
tion in pecuniary affairs, beside the consideration of their salary. 
The establishment of those mission systems opened the way to fill 
the church with the same corruptions that followed the act of Con- 
stantine in the fourth century, enjoining salaries to be paid to 
preachers out of the public treasury. All history shows that a sala- 
ried ministry have proved a curse to the church. It did in the 
fourth century, which subsequent developments abundantly proved. 
The same cause almost universally produces the same effects. In 
less than thirty years after the establishment of those unscriptural 
mission systems, we see the Baptist Church, the only church that 
had any claim to be the Church of Christ, torn to pieces and divided 
in consequence of the corruptions growing out of the mission sys- 
tem. Hence we see them divided and maintaining separate organi- 
zations, known by the name of Old School and New School, which 
division, to all appearance, Avill be as lasting as the separation of 
Novatian and his followers from the Church of B,ome in the third 
century. 

Erom the time that preaching the gospel became a trade and per- 
formed for a certain salary, as enjoined by Constantine in the fourth 
century, to the time that Pope Gregory declared himself universal 
bishop and placed himself at the had of both church and state, was 
a little over two centuries, at which time the man of sin became 
fully invested with the powers of Antichrist. 

3STow when we come to consider how far the salaried priesthood of 
the nineteenth century and the friends of the missionary enterprise 
have swerved from the gospel rule and defaced the old landmarks, 
in the short period of a half century, and have got the foundation 
laid for their systems and many of them in full blast to make prose- 
lytes and money, such as protracted and camp meetings and anxious 



144 HISTOEY OF THE CHUECH OF CHEIST. 



benches, and preaching that salvation depends upon the act of the 
creature, and that it is the gospel that saves sinners ; these made up 
the process for the accomplishment of the former, and they have 
sent forth a host of the most adroit beggars to accomplish the latter. 
All these things considered, and the prospect of their connection 
with other denominations who are engaged in the same effort and 
enterprise, may we not fear that in less than two centuries the for- 
mation of the second beast that is to arise out of the earth will be 
fully accomplished and prepared to exercise all the power of the 
first beast? 

We now proceed to notice some of the corruptions that have 
appeared under this system in less than a century. The English 
Baptists formed a Foreign Mission Society about the first of the 
nineteenth century, and under the patronage of which a host of 
missionaries have been sent out to convert the heathen, and their 
reports from time to time have been very flattering, and some of 
them, as well as the American missionaries, have made an estimate 
of the amount of money it would take to convert the world, and for 
the speedy accomplishment of the object the English missionaries in 
the West India Islands adopted the leadership and ticket system. 
And as our readers may fully understand the workings of this sys- 
tem, we here give an extract from Mr. Weston's letter, published in 
a New School paper in 1842, and republished in the "Signs of the 
Times,"' vol. 10, Xo. 16, p. 125. Mr. Weston was stationed in the 
Island of Jamaica, and after the introductory part of his letter, he 
says: 

" When I arrived in the Island in January, 1*40, 1 visited several 
of the missionaries, and inquired of them for a place where I could 
be usefully stationed. After a few weeks one of them told me had 
lately purchased premises in the interior of the Island for a station, 
and he would like to have me take it and labor for him. I did so. 
Previously, however, to my going there, while at his house, I had 
an opportunity of witnessing the manner of examining candidates 
for baptism, which seemed to me exceedingly novel. Yet I put 
such implicit confidence in missionaries that I did not dare to ques- 
tion its correctness. 

"I observed that while he was questioning the candidates, a man 
stood by whom he called leader, and that when the candidate could 
not readily answer the questions the leader answered for the candi- 
date. I also observed that several who could not readily answer the 
questions were for a time rejected; and upon their returning after- 
wards and telling him that they could answer the questions now, he 
would further interrogate them and accept them for baptism. I 
noticed that none of the candidates said anything about being born 
again. Nor was the question asked them. Xone told about their 
wicked hearts, but all began by saying, 'Me feel well since the 
leader set me off.' 

' I went to my station quite ignorant, knowing simply that these 



DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 145 



men were called 'leaders/ and that the people had ' tickets/ some 
called 'inquirer' and some called 'member' tickets; and that the 
people brought these tickets to ihe missionary every month, and had 
them marked, and then each paid twelve and a half cents. 

" Being told that these tickets were used to make the people feel 
under obligations to support the preaching of the gospel, and also to 
see that they were regularly at meeting every month, I went on with 
the ticket system. 

" After a time I found that the people understood the tickets very 
different from what the missionaries did. The people supposed 
them to be a passport to heaven. This I first ascertained from an 
old man, who one Monday morning came to me early, saying, in 
great earnestness, ' Massa Minister, me lose me ticket yesterday ; me 
want new ticket. Me give Massa Minister all me money.' 

" I replied I would give him a new one the next month, when I 
exchanged or marked them again. 

"'Oh! Massa Minister, perhaps me die before den. Massa Min- 
ister, me must have a ticket. Do, good Minister.' 

" I now began to inquire the use of tickets, and found that when 
one died a friend put the ticket into the coffin, so that if any one 
disputed his right to heaven he had only to present his ticket and 
pass in. On being satisfied of this use of the ticket, by conversa- 
tion with different members, I was horror-struck; but more so on 
hearing that the missionaries knew that the tickets were so used. 

" In a little time one of my deacons brought a man to me to be 
'set off/ informing me that he had rather be set off by the minister 
than by the leader. I told him I did not know what he meant. 
He said I must kneel down and teach him to pray. Accordingly I 
kneeled, and prayed that he might become a good man and give his 
heart to God. 

" When I arose from my knees I observed that the candidate did 
not rise. The deacon finding that I, being an American, did not 
understand their religion, took the candidate by the hand and raised 
him up, saying, 'In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I 
raise you to newness of life.' 

" I asked, ' Is this what you call being set off? ' 

" He replied, ' Yes.' 

"' But is this what you call being born again?' 

" ' Yes — is not this it, minister ? ' 

" The reader can little imagine my feelings at this moment. 

" It now rushed to my mind that when I earnestly pressed upon 
my people the necessity of being born again, there had been much 
call for new ' inquirer tickets.' These they have as soon as set off 
by the leader. 

" Upon further conversation with my deacon, my mind was dis- 
abused concerning this soul destroying system, which the mission- 
aries had been supporting and I had been allowing. 

" I immediately called upon other leaders, and found by them 
10 



146 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



that I was not mistaken in my fears. I saw more and more of the 
evils of this system. As soon as I had an opportunity, I conversed 
with the missionaries. They all tried to evade my inquiries and 
remarks, but all, as one, eventually acknowledged the practice of 
the system, and endeavored to support it on the ground of its bring- 
ing so many within the pale of the church ! 

" The next Lord's day after the above incidents, I preached to my 
people with a burdened heart. I told them plainly, and I think 
feelingly, that this setting off and giving tickets would never gain 
them admission into heaven. I endeavored to show them more 
clearly the nature of the new birth, etc. After meeting, the chief 
members of the church held a long consultation, and then came to 
me, saying : ' Massa Minister, it never do to preach so here in Jamaica. 
It may do to preach so in America, but it never do to preach so 
here in Jamaica. English religion and American religion no like.' 

" I told them that the religion which I had preached was the 
religion of the Bible — of that Bible by which we must all be 
judged. And we could not answer for other people and other mis- 
sionaries. And though all the original members of my church, 
(three hundred and seventy-five) had been members of other 
churches, they had never heard the like before. And they could 
not be convinced but that American religion was wrong and English 

ri s ht - 

" Another objection, said they : " Massa Minister never have 
another baptism, if he no let the leaders set them off. That is the 
only way the other missionaries get so many.' 

"But I now proceed to state a little more definitely the leadership 
system. Nearly every estate has a man called a leader, generally 
appointed by the missionary, who conducts the meetings held by 
the people on his estate. 

" These leaders can very seldom read, yet they seem very vain of 
their office. The leader is held in sacred esteem by the class, and 
no member of the class ever meets or passes him without bowing 
the knee. When they salute him it is always by the title of father 
or papa, and he always addresses them as children. If a member 
can obtain the privilege, as one sometimes can, to wipe on the same 
napkin, or sit down on the same chair, or drink from the same 
vessel after the leader, such consider themselves as in high favor 
with heaven. 

" It is the leader's duty to induce a person to be set off, when he 
finds one willing. Such persons are brought into the class room 
and assigned a particular seat, when after some heathenish ceremo- 
nies, the candidate is made to kneel and repeat over a short prayer 
which the leader puts, word by word, into his mouth. After this 
the leader takes him by the hand, saying : ' In the name of the 
Father and Son, and the Holy Ghost, I raise you to newness of 
life.' They are now termed by the missionaries, ' Inquirers/ 
and receive ' inquirer tickets.' And both missionaries and peo- 



DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 147 



pie believe, or pretend to believe, that when a person is thus set off 
by the leader, he is a new creature or born again ! After being set 
off, the candidate is instructed in a round of questions similar to the 
lectures in a Masonic Lodge. The leader at first puts the questions 
and gives the answers. 

" When it is supposed the candidate can answer the questions 
expertly, if he pleases the leader and gives him sufficient money, he 
is taken to the missionary in these words : ' Minister, here are 
some fit to be baptized, I give them good character.' The mission- 
ary then questions them as he pleases. 

" But here let me remark that the missionary asks the same ques- 
tions as are aslsed in the class meetings by the leader. If the can- 
didates do not answer the missionary readily, the leader, who stands 
by, answers for them. Frequently have I seen the candidate turn 
to the leader and ask him what to answer. After the examination 
the Missionary enrolls their names in a book for baptism. 

" Sometimes when a candidate can answer but a few questions, as it 
often happens with old people, or when they give the wrong answers 
to questions, as for instance when asked : ' Who died for sinners ? * 
the candidate will say : 'At the right hand of God/ giving the 
answer to the question, ( Where is Christ now?' the leader is 
required to take them and catechise them more. After which they 
return to the missionary, and if they can answer readily, they are 
received. 

" The leader has the whole care of making Christians, and I think 
I may say the acknowledged care. For one missionary who has 
baptized over four thousand said : ' I do not know that I have 
been instrumental of the conversion of a single soul. All that I 
have baptized were converted at the time the leader set them off'.' 

" When baptized, the white inquirer ticket is exchanged for a red 
member ticket. 

" Several times when I was examining candidates for baptism, I 
told them I feared they had never been born again. Upon which 
they would go away with the leader awhile, and by-and-by return, 
saying : ' Now, Minister, me can answer the questions.' On one 
occasion I labored more than two hours trying to convince one 
who had returned in that way, that if he was not a Christian before, 
I feared he was not now. I told him he might answer all my 
questions, and yet not be a Christian. But he could seem to get no 
idea of what I meant. He said : ' Tother minister always take 
them when the leader tell them what to answer. And he supposed 
I had got some mad against him, so I no baptize him.' 

" My heart bled for the poor soul, and for the thousands of others 
going to destruction under the care of, I had almost said, ' blind 
leaders of the blind.' 

" I never heard any of the English Baptist Missionaries, excepting 
three, of whom I shall speak by-and-by, ever pray that the Spirit of 
God would convert souls, or even in their preaching mention the ne- 



148 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 



cessity of such an agent. Nor do they need the Spirit, for their 
manner of making Christians being purely mechanical, they are almost 
sure to have a large number to baptize twice a year. And this is as 
often as they generally wish for baptism, viz.: at the first of August, 
and at Christmas. This manner of making Christians accounts for 
the ' glorious news ' we so often hear from the Island of Jamaica, of 
the triumphs of God's grace. Oh, my soul, come not thou into 
the secret ! 

"The Missionaries have no intercourse with their people, only 
through their leaders, except it be to make their tickets and raise 
their money ; and this money pretty generally goes through the 
hands of their leader. I know many Avell and hearty members 
who did not visit the Chapel for months, and even years, and some 
who never attended from the day of their baptism to the day of 
their death, yet they were safe. They were good members. They 
had tickets regularly paid up through their leaders, and were there- 
fore sure of Heaven. 

"I was most severely reprimanded by the missionaries for visiting 
the people from house to house, and for preaching to them on 
Wednesday evenings. The missionaries said the people did not 
want them to meddle with their affairs at home — it was enough to 
preach for them on the Sabbath. 

" Whenever a leader is displeased with a member he ' puts him 
back,' that is, he assigns him the delinquent's seat, and tells him 
that now God has put him back, and if he dies before he is restored 
to favor, he can not go to heaven. In one such case, the poor man 
drove to desperation, ventured to come to the minister, and wring- 
ing his hands in agony said : ' Minister, what me do, if me die 
'fore leader take me back"? Me go to hell! What me do?' 

" I will not say that these missionaries feel no interest in the spir- 
itual welfare of their people, but I do say, that if they have, they 
have a very poor way of showing their love. 

" Aside from their schools, I can see very little to choose between 
their religion and the basest Catholicism. Many of the missionaries 
receive by their tickets, as a consequence of the leadership system, more 
than five hundred dollars per month. And by exchanging, as they 
call it, once in four weeks, they make thirteen months in a year. 
For this money they make no account with the Society at home. 

" The state of their missionaries, their equipage, their sumptuous 
fare, would astonish people in this republican land. They riot on 
the price of the souls of their people, and then wiping their mouths 
they say : ' We have done no wickedness.' Is this language too 
severe? These vast sums are given by the poor, unsuspecting peo- 
ple, with the confident expectation of procuring an admittance to 
heaven therewith. The missionaries know this. What then can I 
say less?" 

We omit several paragraphs of Mr. Weston's letter, which is 



DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 149 



devoted to a description of the course pursued by the three Mission- 
ries, which he alludes to as being exceptions to the practice of the 
leadership and ticket system. 

We insert the two last paragraphs of his letter, which contain an 
account of another very objectionable practice. He says: "There is 
another practice common among the missionaries, which I believe 
every true follower of Christ will deprecate, namely, they encourage 
the people to bring their infant children, not to be sprinkled, but to 
be blessed. The missionary takes the child in his arms in the public 
assembly, and imparts a mysterious holy influence, so that if the 
child dies in infancy, it will go to heaven. If the child lives to 
maturity it will be, in consequence of this imparted holiness, a fit 
member of the church. 

" I have given but a sketch of the abominations practiced in 
Jamaica, but I leave the subject for the present, praying that the 
Lord will raise up faithful laborers to send in that inviting field." 

"We could give extracts from other reliable sources, of the grow- 
ing evils and corruptions of the leadership, ticket, and badge 
system, as practiced by the missionaries among the heathen, that 
would still add to the astonishment of the reader, to think that civil- 
ized men would practice such corruptions, under the sacred name of 
religion ; claiming to be embassadors for Christ. But the evil of 
the system is not confined alone to the heathen lands, for under the 
practical workings of it in our own country, we see that professors of 
religion have ceased to be a cross-bearing people, consequently 
the cross of " Christ is made of none effect." 1 Cor. i: 17. They 
are teaching for doctrines the commandments of men — that salvation 
depends upon the act of the creature. Therefore it is of works and 
not by grace. 

This doctrine is pleasing to the world, and our missionary folks 
have learned that unless they please men they can not get their 
money. Hence we see the great effort made to explain away the 
truth of Scriptures, and make the people believe that the mission- 
aries can save the world if they can get money enough. And they 
use the ominous name of benevolence as their motto to conceal their 
craft. 

The Apostle did not say that the second beast which was to 
arise out of the earth, was to be like a lamb ; but it had two horns 
like a lamb. No doubt it was the number, the shape, and 
windings of those horns which caused him to liken them to the 
horns of a lamb. The horns of the lamb are always both alike, 
and of the same material. So we understand that the horns of this 
beast, the likening of which is benevolence, one growing up, or ris- 
ing out of the Protestant religion, which combines all the daughters 
of the mother of harlots ; the other rising out of the true Church 
of Christ, which existed with the people called Baptists. And not- 
withstanding the windings of these horns, we see the points now 



150 HISTOEY OF THE CHUECH OF CHEIST. 



coming very close together, in the union of correspondence by 
messengers between the Missionary Baptist Associations, and the 
Pedo-baptist Conferences ; and the system of free communion with 
the Pedo-baptists, already practiced by some of the New School 
Baptists, and strong efforts making to enforce the system throughout 
the denomination. 



BAPTIST LETTERS. 



The following letters were taken from the Southern Baptist Mes- 
senger, vol. 9, 1st page. 

CIRCULAR LETTER. 

The Ministers and Delegates composing the Suwanee River Primitive 
Baptist Association to the several Churches of Whom She is 
Composed, and to the Faithful in Christ Jesus: 

Dear Brethren and Sisters : You will expect something to 
appear in our Minutes in the form of a Circular, and as there is so 
much said about the means by which sinners are converted to God, 
and so many things said to be the means, we desire to offer a few 
thoughts on that subject, and hope to show the true means. 

You are aware, Bible Societies, Tract Societies, Theological 
Schools and State Conventions, with their kindred institutions, are 
all said to be the means, under God, by which sinners are converted 
to God ; but it is all without Divine authority ; but it is the means 
that men have devised ; and the)' have converted many to those 
institutions — but not to God, and boast of wealth and members ; 
but none of them can, by any means, redeem his brother, nor give 
to God a ransom for him. Ps. xlix : 7. And Jeremiah speaks of a 
wonderful and horrible thing committed in the land : Prophets 
prophesy falsely, and the Priests can rule by their means, and my 
people love to have it so. Jeremiah v : 30, 31. 

Do you not see, by these means they make preachers, and by 
these means they send them out; and there is much effected by it? 
Converse with them on the subject, and they will boast of the work 
they are doing. You know, brethren, Paul did not boast of any 
conversions he made ; but he gloried in the Cross of Christ, and the 
world did not receive his preaching. 

See the contrast between our Modern Mission folks and Paul. The 
world persecuted Paul, but they understand Modern Missionaries — 
which shows clearly that it is of the world ; for the world loves its 
owp ; but the spirit of Truth the world cannot receive. John xiv : 



152 the editor's 



17, and xv : 19. If ye were of the world, the world would love his 
own, but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you 
out of the world, therefore, the world hateth you. So, by these 
fruits you shall know them. Mat. xii : 7 and 16. 

You see, dear brethren and sisters, the many means devised by 
men, that it is anti-Christian in its effects ; for, instead of perpetu- 
ating love amongst the Baptists, you see them torn asunder ; and it 
has been by these means. We will now, brethren, try to show God's' 
means, which is revealed in Exodus xxxiv : 6, 7, and Numbers xiv : 
48. The Lord, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant 
in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving 
iniquity and transgressions and sin, and that He will by no means 
clear the guilty. This is the One that devises means that his ban- 
ished be not expelled from Him. 2 Samuel, xiv: 14. By Him, 
the only means that shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Ps. 
cxxx : 8. For the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquites of us all. 
Isa liii : latter clause of 6th verse. And numerous other Scriptures 
might be brought, which abundantly shows that Jesus by imputa- 
tion, bore the sins of his Bride, and actually paid her debt of sin ; 
and if so, is she not saved ? It is answered no, by the Institution 
folks ; but still, admit that Jesus has died to save sinners — but there 
will be a failure unless we attend to the means. But how does this 
agree with Christ's own language? Mat. xxviii : 18. All power 
is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And He still has that 
power. And this is the record that God hath given to us Eternal 
Life, and this life is in His Son. 1 John v: 11. And as He has 
redeemed them, and has life in himself, expressly to give to them 
that His Father gave to Him; and you now first saved, and then 
called ; and when this life is given, they receive the call — and Jesus, 
who is the life of all His children, calls His own sheep by name, 
and leadeth them out. John x : 3. And when He putteth forth 
His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him, 
for they know His voice. 4th verse. 

Now, dear brethren, do you not see that Christ is the means — 
who loved us when we were dead in sins — hath quickened us 
together with Christ. By grace are ye saved. Eph ii : 45. 2 Cor. 
iv : 6. And many other proofs might be set forth to show Christ 
the only means of life. 

We hope, dear brethren, you are not shaken by any of those 
winds of doctrine that are so popular, though we thus speak, but 
desire to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, — that we 
should consider our great Head and Lawgiver, that we should be 
steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the 
Lord ; for you have not forgotten, when He, in His goodness, 
showed you your great debt of sin you had contracted, and had 
nothing to pay. Oh ! how you felt when you saw His justice in 
sinking you down to ruin, and no means to relieve yourself. Oh ! 
what anguish of soul, when you cried " Lord save, or I perish." 



APPENDIX. 153 



Then, the means — He who is your life, appeared as one that had 
paid your debt, and as you had naught to pay, He frankly forgave 
you. 

Now, dear brethren and sisters, seeing He has done so mueh for 
you, glorify Him in your body and spirit, — don't let cares of this 
life, nor the deceitfulness of riches keep you from the discharge of 
your several duties. Attend your meetings, and watch and pray — 
be sober, be diligent; for your adversary, the devil, is a roaring 
lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour. 

Finally, brethren, farewell ; be of good comfort, live in peace, and 
the God of love and peace shall be with you. 

JOB E. W. SMITH, Moderator. 

Wiley Lee, Clerk. 



CORRESPONDING LETTER. 

The Suwanee River Association to the Associations with which She 
Corresponds : " Grace be multiplied to you : " 

Dear Brethren : Through Divine Providence, we have been 
permitted to meet again in another annual Session. Harmony seems 
to abound ; although our Representation is not full. We can rejoice 
that there has been some little travel in some of our little vines ; 
yet, some complain of coolness and barrenness. We greatly rejoice 
to see and receive your Correspondence from the Ocklockonee and 
Union Association, and hope our dear brethren have been sent with 
messengers of love, who have been received with joy. 

We desire a continuation of your correspondence. Our business 
has been conducted in a spirit of love. Our next Association will 
be held with the Church at Clack's Creek, Saturday before the 
fourth Sunday in September, 1859 — 12 miles above Middle Burge, 
on the South prong. 

Now, may the Lord bless you and us, and save us all in His King- 
dom, is our prayer, for Christ's sake. 

JOB E. W. SMITH, Moderator. 

Wiley Lee, Clerk. 



The following questions and answers are copied from the Southern 
Baptist Messenger, vol. 9, pp. 154-155, 1859 : 

Brunswick, Maine. 

Brethren Editors : I do not doubt but that many of the chil- 
dren of God, especially in the first part of their pilgrimage, wish 



154 the editor's 



many times that they could see some of the old Prophets, or Christ, 
or some of the Apostles, that they might ask them a few questions ; 
because many deceivers have gone out into the world, who speak 
many enticing words and great swelling words of vanity ; they are 
crying, lo, here is Christ! and lo, there! or this is the way; and 
this is the way they show great signs and wonders; insomuch that 
if it were possible they would deceive the very elect. In fact, the 
signs and wonders which they perform before the face of the people, 
are calculated to bewilder, if not deceive and lead them astray ; and 
it will lead the children of God astray if they are not kept by the 
power of God through faith unto salvation. 

Many of the wise and prudent men of this world affirm that the 
natural man possesses the power and ability to become good. They 
say that any one and every one of the fallen race of Adam may, at 
any time they choose, give their hearts to God, receive the spirit of 
truth, become the children of God, live a holy life, and thereby 
become fit subjects for the kingdom of heaven ; while the children of 
God know for a certainty that in them (that is, in their flesh) dwell- 
eth no good thing. They would be pleased if they could do some- 
thing good and recommend themselves in the sight of heaven ; but 
how to perform that which is good, they find not; and they can not 
see how it can be possible for a corrupt tree to bring forth good 
fruit. Now, is it any wonder that the children of God see them- 
selves to be so different from what they hear the natural man repre- 
sented to be, that they should have a strong desire to see the old 
Prophets, or Christ, or some of the Apostles, that they might inquire 
concerning these things? Well, they can have this desire gratified, 
inasmuch as they can ask any question they please of them on this 
subject, and many others, and receive a correct answer, and the 
answers to the questions which they may wish to ask can be found 
in the word of God — the word of Him who is of one mind, and 
none can turn Him — who has declared the end from the beginning — 
who is unchangeable — the same yesterday, to-day and forever. They 
may rest assured that whatever the viord says is truth, whatever man 
may say to the contrary. 

Now, let us ask a few questions about man in his fallen state, and 
see if the word of God agrees with what man says : 

Question. Is there ever a good thought enters the heart of the 
natural man, or man in his natural state? 

Answer. Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is only 
evil. Gen. vi : 5. 

Question. Can the wicked change their course and become good? 

Answer. If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard 
his spots, then may they also do good that are accustomed to do evil. 
Jer. xiii : 23. 

Question. Can the world receive the Spirit of Truth ? 

Answer. The Spirit of Truth the world can not receive, because 
it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him. John xiv : 17. 



APPENDIX. 155 



Question. Can the natural man receive the things of the spirit of 
God? 

Answer. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit 
of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know 
them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor. ii : 14. 

Many of the teachers of the present day exhort the unregenerated 
to come to Christ ; and they tell them that they do possess the 
power and ability, and can come to Christ if they will only use 
the means. 

Question. Is there any means to be used by the creature before 
they can come to Christ, or do they possess the ability to come? 

Answer. No man can come unto me, except the Father who 
hath sent me draw him. John vi : 44. 

There are many in the world who assert that Jesus Christ has not 
saved any one nor redeemed any one by His death and sufferings; 
but has done all that He can consistently with His character, to save 
the whole human family, by bringing all upon a kind of salvable 
ground, and now their final salvation depends entirely upon the 
choice or decision of the creature ; and they say that God requires 
the creature to perform certain duties in order for them to be saved ; 
and unless they do perform certain duties they can not be saved. 

The Savior says : " Ask and you shall receive." Now, let us ask, 
and see if God will not inform us by His word on this subject, and 
then we can see whether men are correct in their statements or not. 

Question. For whom did Christ suffer? 

Answer. For the transgression of my people was He stricken. 
Isa. liii : 8. 

Question. For whom did Christ give His life ? 

Answer. For the sheep or the Church. John x: 11, and 
Eph. v: 25. 

Question. "Why did He give His life for the Church ? 

Answer. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing 
of water by the word, that he might present to himself a glorious 
Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it 
should be holy and without blemish. Eph. v : 26 and 27. 

Question. Has the Savior redeemed His people, His sheep, His 
Church? 

Answer. In all of their afflictions He was afflicted, and the angel 
of His presence saved them ; in His love and His pity He redeemed 
them, and He bare them and carried them all the days of old. 
Isa. lxiii : 9. 

Question. Is the redemption which Christ has obtained for His 
people effectual ? 

Answer. By His own blood He entered in once into the holy 
place, having obtained eternal redemption for them. Heb. ix : 12. 

Question. Will those who have been redeemed by the blood 



of Christ come to Zion? and how will they 



come 



Answer. The redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with 



156 the editor's 



singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head : 
they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall 
flee away. Isa. li: 11. 

Question. Is it possible for God to forget his children, and not 
have compassion upon them ? 

Answer. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should 
not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may for- 
get, yet will I not forget thee. Isa. xlix: 15. 

Question. Is there any uncertainty about the Lord and Savior 
Jesus Christ saving His people ? 

Answer. He snail save His people from their sins. Matt, i : 21. 

Question. Why did the Father give His Son Jesus Christ power 
over all flesh ? 

Answer. That He should give eternal life to as many as the Father 
had given him. John xvii: 2. 

Question. Will all that have been given to the Savior by the 
Father come to Him ? 

Answer. All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me. 
John vi: 27. 

Question. Will the Saviour cast any of His children away who 
have been given to Him by His Father and come to Him for sal- 
vation ? 

Answer. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. 
John vi : 37. 

Question. Does salvation depend on the choice, or acts, or 
decision of the creature? or is it according to their works of right- 
eousness whether they are saved or not? 

Answer. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regene- 
ration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Titus iii : 5. Not by 
works, lest any man should boast. Eph. ii : 9. Who hath saved 
us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, 
but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in 
Christ Jesus before the world began. 2 Tim. i: 9. Not of 'works, 
but of Him that calleth. Rom. ix : 11. 

Question. Can any one be saved by the means or instrumentality 
of man, or can man in any way be the means whereby any soul can 
be saved? 

Answer. (Speaking of Christ as the Head of the corner.) Neither 
is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under 
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Acts iv : 12. 

Question. Can money in any way, be the means of one single 
soul being redeemed ? 

Answer. Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver 
and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. 1 Peter i : 18, 19. 

There are many at the present day who seem to suppose that God 
has required them to evangelize the world, and to teach all to know 
the Lord. 



APPENDIX. 157 



Question. Has God required man to teach any one to know the 
Lord ? 

Answer. They shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and 
every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. Jer. xxxi : 34. 

Question, How, then, are God's children" to be taught ? 

Answer. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord. Isa. 
liv: 13. 

Question. How does God teach or lead His children? 

Answer. God will bring them by a way that they know not ; He 
will lead them in paths that they have not known ; He will make 
darkness light before them, and crooked things straight ; these 
things God has promised to do unto His children, and not forsake 
them. Isa. xlii : 16. 

Question. Who are the servants of God commanded to feed, 
comfort, or strengthen? 

Answer. Feed my lambs — feed my sheep. John xxi : 15-17. 
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God ; speak ye com- 
fortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accom- 
plished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the 
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Isa. xl : 1, 2. Strengthen ye 
the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees ; say to them that are 
of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not ; behold your God will come 
with vengeance; even God with a recompense. He will come and 
save you. Isa. xxxv : 3, 4. 

The Gospel, the bread of life, the water of salvation, which God 
has prepared to feed, nourish, comfort and strengthen the children of 
the kingdom with, is precious ; it is the pearl of great price ; it is 
holy provision ; but all of those who are without the kingdom are 
compared to clogs and swine, etc. 

Question. Has God commanded His servants to offer this pearl 
of great price — this holy provision, to those who are without the 
kingdom ? 

Answer. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast 
ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet 
and turn again and rend you. Matt, vii : 6. 

There are many who assert that unless the children of God keep 
up a continual exertion on their part, they will fall short of heaven 
and immortal glory at last, and be cast off with the unbeliever. 

Question. How are the children of God kept from the evils that 
are in the world, while they remain here below ? 

Answer. They are kept by the power of God through faith 
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter i : 5. 

Question. Is it possible for one of the children of God to perish ? 

Answer. They shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them 
out of my hand. John x : 28. 

Question. Are the sons and daughters of the Lord, in their fallen 
state, or by nature, any better than others ? 



158 the editor's 



Answer. They are by nature the children of wrath, even as 
others. Eph. ii : 3. 

Question. Do the children of God consider themselves any bet- 
ter by nature than others ? 

Answer. Ao, in no wise. Rom. iii 9. Then, if the children of 
God are not better in their fallen state than others, and are by nature 
children of wrath even as others, as it has been proved that they 
were all under sin ; then the question naturally arises — Why are 
they made the subjects of God's love and grace? 

Answer. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love where- 
with he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened 
us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved.) Eph ii : 4, 5. 
According to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in 
Christ Jesus before the world began. 2 Tim. i: 9. Having pre- 
destinated us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ to him- 
self, according to the good pleasure of His will. Eph. i: 5. In 
whom (Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestin- 
ated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after 
the counsel of His own will. Eph. i : 11. Or, in a word, it is for His 
own name's sake — His own honor and glory. 

HIRAM CAMPBELL. 



The following is the proceedings of the Old School Baptist Cor- 
responding Meeting of California: 

Sonoma Co., Cal., Sept. 30, 1859. 

Pursuant to previous notice, the council met with the Liberty 
Church, and organized by choosing Elder T. H. Owen, Moderator, 
and D. B. Holm an, Clerk. After which the messengers from four 
churches appeared and exhibited their appointment, and their names 
enrolled as follows: From Santa Rosa Church, Brethren A. Cock- 
rill, William D. Cockrill, A. H. Hayan, and Henry Bever; from 
Suisun Church, Elders William Kendall, T. H. Owen, and Bro. D. 
B. Holman; from Liberty Church, Josiah Dorris, Thos. Vanwinkle, 
and William E. Flanery; from lone Church, E. Fitheon. 

1. Appointed Brethren William E. Flanery, William Kendall, 
E. Fitheon, T. H. Owen, and D. B. Holman, a committee on organ- 
ization. 

2. Appointed Brethren A. Cockrill, Josiah Dorris, and A. H. 
Hagan, a committee on correspondence. 

3. Appointed Henry Bever, William D. Cockrill, and William 
E. Flanery, a committee of arrangement. 

Adjourned until 9 o'clock to-morrow morning. 



APPENDIX. 159 



Saturday Morning, Sept. 1. 

The council met pursuant to adjournment, and after prayer by 
Elder T. H. Owen, proceeded to business. 

1st. Called for the report of the committee of arrangement, 
which was read and adopted, and committee discharged. 

2d. Called for the report of the committee on organization, 
whereupon William E. Flanery, chairman of the committee, made 
the following report: 

The committee on organization report as follows: 

We, the messengers from the churches above named, setting in 
council for the purpose of consulting together in relation to the 
most proper course for our denomination in California to pursue in 
matters not strictly defined in the Scriptures, and not prohibited by 
the general tenor thereof; and after due deliberation, the council 
recommend that the different churches meet together by their mes- 
sengers once in each year, for social worship, mutual religious inter- 
course, and for the purpose of correspondence — not only among 
ourselves, but with our denomination of other States and countries; 
and that this meeting shall be known by the name of the Old School 
Baptist Corresponding Meeting of California. 

Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting, the great object of 
religious correspondence between churches and Associations, is not 
to controvert principles upon which a difference of opinion may 
exist, but to commune with each other on the subject of our holy 
religion, and the progress of the same in our denomination. And 
where union does not exist in sentiment and feeling, Christian com- 
munion is impracticable; therefore, union should be the governing 
principle of church and denominational correspondence. 

Resolved, That this meeting will not receive and reciprocate cor- 
respondence from any church or association contrary to the above 
declaration. 

Resolved, That each church shall decide on the number of .mes- 
sengers she will send to the Corresponding Meeting, who shall bear 
a letter containing the name of the church and messengers and 
other statistics; and when convened and ready for business, the 
messengers present shall choose a moderator and clerk, who shall 
perform the usual duties of such officers. The acts of the meeting 
shall be recorded by the clerk in a book to be kept for that purpose. 

Resolved, That this meeting shall send forth a letter of corres- 
pondence to our brethren annually, and that the Signs of the Times 
and Southern Baptist Messenger be adopted as the medium of that 
correspondence. 

Resolved, That any rules or regulations adopted by this meeting 
shall only be binding on the meeting in its collective capacity, and 



160 THE EDITOR'S 



not on the churches; and that this meeting shall exercise no general 
powers that are not herein expressly delegated. 

The report was received and adopted, and the committee dis- 
charged. 

3d. Called for the report of the committee on correspondence, 
upon which A. H. Hagan reported a letter, which was read and 
received as our Corresponding Letter, and the committee discharged. 

4th. Agreed that our Corresponding Meetings hereafter be held 
in the month of September annually, and that our next meeting be 
held with the church at lone Valley, Amador County, Cal., com- 
mencing on Friday before the fourth Sunday in September, 1860, 
and that Elder Wm, Kendall preach the next introductory sermon. 

6. The minutes were called for, read and corrected, and adjourned 
to meet with the church at lone Valley, at 10 o'clock, on Friday 
before the fourth Sunday in September, 1860. 

T. H. OWEN, Moderator. 

D. B. Holm an, Clerk. 



ARTICLES OF FAITH OF THE CHURCHES COMPOSING THIS CORRES- 
PONDING MEETING. 

Art. 1. We believe the Old and New Testaments are of Divine 
authority, and contain the revealed will of God to man and the 
only infallible rule of faith and practice. 

2. We believe in one only true and living God, the Father, the 
Word, and Holy Ghost; ami these three are one. 

3. We believe that by one man's disobedience (to wit, Adam,) 
all his posterity became sinners by nature, and are unable to deliver 
themselves from their condemned and sinful state by the ability 
they possess by nature. 

4. We believe in the doctrine of Election by Grace, and that 
God chose His people in Christ before the world was. 

5. We believe that sinners are justified in the sight of God only 
by the righteousness of Christ being imputed unto them; and that 
good works are the fruits of faith and follow after justification, and 
are evidences of a gracious state. 

6. We believe in the final perseverance of the saints through 
grace to glory, and not one of them shall be lost. 

7. We believe the atonement to be special for the Church or 
Body of Christ, the application of which will be made to all the 
elect by the spirit of God. 

8. We believe that Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordin- 
ances of Jesus Christ, and that true believers are the only proper 
subjects; that Baptism is by immersion only. 

9. We believe that no minister has a right to administer the 



APPENDIX. 161 



ordinances, but those who are called of God and clothed with 
authority by the church. 

10. We believe in the resurrection of the dead both of the just 
and unjust, and the general judgment; and that the joys of the 
righteous and the punishment of the wicked will be eternal. 



The Old School Baptist Corresponding Meeting of California, now in 
session with the Liberty Church at Liberty School House, Sonoma 
County, California, September 30 and October 1-2, 1859, to our 
Brethren of other States and countries sendeth greeting: 

It affords us much satisfaction while on the shores of time, through 
the kind mercies of our Heavenly Father, to address you by letter 
of correspondence. 

Dear Brethren: We, as an integral part of that body of- Chris- 
tians who profess to worship God in the Spirit, and have no confi- 
dence in the flesh and discard all human merit in the salvation of 
sinners, having obtained strength from God to stand in our lot, and 
through great tribulation and trials to defend the truth to the satis- 
faction of a few, against the many inventions of men, with all the 
talent that the great redundancy of gold could induce and entice in 
their cause; and notwithstanding they have decoyed some of our 
brethren and sisters to join with them, yet we rejoice that there are 
yet a few in California that have not bowed the knee to modern 
Baal. 

Among our scattered brethren we have been enabled to form four 
small churches, who have by their messengers convened together to 
form this meeting, the object of which you will learn by our pro- 
ceedings, accompanying this letter. 

Our disconsolate feelings in our scattered situation in California 
can be better imagined by our brethren than expressed by ourselves. 
Although our trials have been great, and the gloomy dispensation 
we have passed through has been grievous, yet we rejoice that our 
ever faithful God has given us strength and fortitude to oppose the 
many false ways that have invaded the sanctuary of truth in Cali- 
fornia, and has enabled us to shun those who walk disorderly and 
not according to the traditions of the Apostles. 

Our meeting has been one of great joy and happiness to our way- 
worn brethren and sisters. We have realized how good it is for 
brethren to dwell together in unity. The utmost harmony and 
good feelings have existed in every department of our meeting. 

Now we would say to our brethren in other States and countries, 
whithersoever these presents shall come, that any Association, cor- 
responding, or Old School meeting, who may feel willing to corres- 
pond with us, through the Signs of the Times or Southern Baptist 
11 



162 the editor's 



Messenger, or otherwise, their correspondence will be gratefully 
received and highly appreciated by your unworthy brethren of 
California. 

Our next corresponding meeting is appointed with our sister 
church at lone Valley, in Amadore County, Cal., to commence on 
Friday before the fourth Sunday in September, 1860, when and 
where we hope to see and hear from as many of our brethren as it 
may please God to give a desire to correspond with us. Brethren, 
remember us at the throne of grace. 

THOS. H. OWEN, Moderator. 

D. B. Holman, Clerk. 



The two succeeding doctrinal letters were received and adopted 
by the Siloam Association of Oregon, July, 1871 : 

CIRCULAR ADDRESS. 

The Messengers of the Churches composing the Siloam Association of 
Regular Predcstinarian Baptists, to the Churches they represent, 
and to all who love our Lord with whom we correspond : 

Beloved Brethren in the Lord — Through the never-failing 
mercy of our Covenant God, by whom the bounds of our habita- 
tions are appointed, we are enabled to meet again in counsel. Since 
we last met, another year with its joys, sorrows, toils, and cares has 
been numbered with the past, which reminds us of the fact that we 
are rapidly approaching the end of our pilgrim journey, and admon- 
ishes us to carefully consider the foundations of our hope, and see 
whether we, as obedient children, are following the word of God. 
We will, therefore, call your attention to the record of divine truth, 
which is able to make you wise unto salvation, and, as a subject for 
our address, refer you to the Gospel of the Son of God. The 
Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Church at Rome, says: "I am 
not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God 
unto salvation to every one that believeth." — Rom. 1: 16. The 
Gospel is much talked of in our day, but is very imperfectly under- 
stood by the professing world. The day in which we live is called 
the Gospel day ; but by reference to the Divine record we find that 
the plan of Gospel salvation is older than the heavens, and that not 
only those who live under the full blaze of Gospel light, as revealed 
in the Gospel dispensation, enjoy its precious blessings, but that it 
was applicable to the Saints ot God in every age of the world's his- 
tory. Paul says: "The Scriptures foreseeing that God would 
justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto 
Abraham," and our Savior said, " Abraham rejoiced to see my day." 



APPENDIX. 163 



He saw it and was glad. The subjects of Gospel salvation are as 
definitely defined as its provisions are clearly revealed; and we 
should be careful to observe the kinds of subjects, or persons, the 
Gospel is applicable to and not attempt to make a wrong applica- 
tion. The angel that bore the news of salvation to our guilty world 
on the approach of our Immanuel God, in Bethlehem of Judea, 
said, "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be 
unto all people." We, therefore, find that the Gospel is glad tid- 
ings of great joy. We are not to infer from the use of the word 
all in the above text that the Gospel was intended to be universal 
in its application, but that it was applicable to men of all nations, as 
the pouring out of the spirit on" three thousand men of all nations 
on the day of Pentecost fulfilled the promise of God to pour out his 
spirit on all flesh. We find that it is the power of God unto salva- 
tion only to such as believe. It was applicable to Abraham, for 
"Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteous- 
ness;" and Paul further says, "for therein is the righteousness of 
God revealed from faith to faith." We are, therefore, not to 
understand that the Gospel is applicable to an unregenerate sinner, 
but to such as are born of God, and called by his grace. Paul says, 
"We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block and 
unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both 
Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." 
The power of the Gospel which Paul preached was not something 
which can be obtained in theological schools. He did not get it at 
the feet of Gamaliel, for he says, "I received it not of man, neither 
was I taught it by man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." 
By comparing Pom. i: 16, and 1 Cor. i: 24, with 1 Cor. ii: 2, we 
find the Gospel that Paul preached ; that is, the power of God unto 
salvation was and is the crucified Jesus. It does not present 
offered conditions to careless and unconcerned mortals, but full sal- 
vation and complete redemption to the Church of Christ; and as to 
conditions to eternal salvation, there are none of a human char- 
acter. There are conditions, but those conditions can not be per- 
formed by mortals, nor does God require them at our hands. If he 
did, it would be farewell heaven to us ; for those conditions required 
the Church's redemption, salvation and justification, and the human 
race does not possess virtue enough to justify a single sinner, and, 
furthermore, they are already condemned. But Christ, our justify- 
ing righteousness, having fulfilled the conditions of the eternal 
covenant, as it was written of him, can preach peace by the blood 
of his cross to the heirs of the covenant. The Church of God, 
being the body of Christ and chosen in him before the foundation 
of the world, was, by virtue of that heavenly relationship, redeemed 
from all demands of the law when Jesus made an end of sin on 
the cross of Calvary. Divine justice having received full satisfac- 
tion in the person of Jesus, for " He is the end of law for righteous- 
ness to every one that believeth ;" and He being exalted a prince and 



164 the editor's 



a Savior to give repentance unto Israel, has authority to send forth 
the prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water, and gather them 
from all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and 
dark day. God declared by the Prophet Isaiah, "I will bring thy 
seed from the east and gather them from the west; I will say to the 
north give up, and to the south keep not back, bring my sons from 
far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even every one that 
is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory;" and 
Jesus, having " power over all flesh to give eternal life to as many 
as the Father gave hitn, says, "I give unto them eternal life and 
they shall never perish •" and although by nature they are dead in 
trespasses and in sins, He says, "The hour is coming and now is 
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they 
that hear shall live." As man in a state of nature does not seek 
after God, and can not know him, the child of God must be born 
again before he can appreciate the Gospel of the Son of God; for 
until he is born again, he does not possess faith, and we have before 
seen that without faith no one can receive the Gospel. So, without 
a divine and heavenly birth, no one can have faith ; for, " he that 
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God " (is, in the pres- 
ent tense, not will be born.) We also find faith is the gift of God, 
and the Apostle John says, " it is born of God," and Paul says, 
"Christ is the author and finisher of it." So it is not, as some 
have supposed, the act of the creature; for it is a fruit of the spirit, 
and a property of the new man. We find that not only the 
redemption, salvation, and justification of the Church is of God, but 
that the new birth and all the spiritual graces, such as faith, joy, 
and peace, together with all the qualifications necessary to fit her 
members for the enjoyment of Gospel blessings, are all of God. 
The Apostle Paul says, " Christ also loved the Church and gave 
himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the wash- 
ing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a 
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." 
Therefore, God, "having purposed that in the dispensation of the 
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in 
Christ," he proceeds like a God to effect that purpose ; for when 
God works he works, and " none can hinder," and " what his soul 
desires even, that he does." All things in Christ included all that 
were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, all the 
heirs of the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, 
all who have obtained an inheritance, "being predestinated accord- 
ing to the purpose of Him w r ho worketh all things after the coun- 
sel of His own will ;" and having provided salvation for His people, 
He prepares them to enjoy it by the calling of His grace, as Paul 
savs, " Whom He did foreknow He also did predestinate to be con- 
formed to the image of His Son, and whom He did predestinate He 
also called, and whom He called He also justified, and whom He 
justified He also glorified." Now, as we have before seen, that the 



APPENDIX. 165 



Gospel is applicable only to a believer, one who is born of God, and 
called with an holy or heavenly calling, we can see the propriety of 
the command of our Lord to Peter to feed his sheep and lambs, and 
of Paul's command to Timothy to feed the flock of God. But what 
a contrast between the Gospel as preached by the Apostles and that 
which is received as gospel by the most popular professions in these 
days. Modern professors preach Sunday Schools, tracts, societies, 
protracted meetings, anxious benches, and, above all things, money, 
as the power or means of salvation. They seem, like the Atheni- 
ans of old, to worship their god as if they thought he needed 
something, and, perhaps, he does; but the God of Israel is not 
worshiped as though He needed anything, for He is God of the 
whole earth, and the wealth of the world is at His command, and 
the hearts of all men are in his hand. " His arm is not shortened 
that He can not save, nor His ear dull that He can not hear." 
"Have ye not heard, have ye not known, that the everlasting God, 
the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is he 
weary." The Armenian god is represented as being dependant on 
mortals, whose breath is in their nostrils, to accomplish his pleasure, 
and with what he can do, and all they can do for him, thousands 
are going to perdition for lack of means to save them. One would 
suppose that he goes only as they go, and comes at their command; 
for they say if they go to the heathens he will go and assist in their 
conversion, and if they get up a protracted meeting and call on him, 
he will come and aid their efforts, if sinners will only consent to 
be saved and yield to the power of his spirit. But such is not the 
character of the Lord of Israel, the high and lofty One that 
inhabiteth eternity, before whom the inhabitants of the earth are as 
grasshoppers. " Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of 
his hand, and meted out the Heavens with a span." " Who hath 
weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance;" who 
says, " I am God, and there is none like me. Declaring the end 
from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not 
yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleas- 
ure." His throne is in the Heavens, and his almighty arm sways 
the sceptre of all worlds and all beings. He is no more the God 
of the American and European, than of the Indian and the Ethio- 
pian. " If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the 
uttermost parts of the sea, behold he is there." And what his 
eternal council purposed, his eternal word accomplishes; for he says, 
" My word that goeth forth out of my mouth shall not return unto 
me void." At the appointed time God sent forth his Son, made 
under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that we 
might receive the adoption of sons; all depended on this, God had 
put his trust in Jesus, and was not disappointed, nor was there any 
lack of means. A Judas to betray Him, a generation of vipers, 
children of the devil to procure his death, and Romans to crucify 
him; all appointed of God. For, says the divine record, "both 



166 the editor's 



Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and people of Israel, 
were gathered together to do whatsoever thy hand and thy council 
determined before to be done." 

Paul in his letter to Timothy says: "Be thou partaker of the 
afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who hath 
saved us and called us with au holy calling; not according to our 
works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given 
us in Christ Jesus before the world began ; but is now made mani- 
fest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished 
death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the 
gospel." We see that by the appearing of Jesus that that life and 
immortality that was in Christ, and was promised before the world 
began, is brought to light by the gospel. That life quickens and 
makes the sinner live; and had not this life been preserved in Jesus 
Christ, all hope of heaven would have been lost. "But thanks be 
to God that giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," 
that while sin prevails to take the life we possessed in the earth by 
Adam, our eternal, immortal life was hid with Christ in Go r l. When 
that life is given to the sinner who is dead in trespasses and sins, he« 
is awakened to a sense of his lost and helpless condition, he sees that 
the "wages of sin is death," and he realizes the awful truth that he 
is himself a sinner, undone forever, without hope and without God 
in the world ; he then feels as Isaiah did when he said, " Wo is me, 
for I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips;" but when the 
glorious plan of life and salvation for condemned and guilty worms 
is brought to light, and he can see that Jesus abolished death, and 
hear him say "if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink," 
and "though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them as wool, and 
though they be red like crimson, I will make them as snow." It is 
then he can realize the gospel of Jesus, that it is the power of God 
unto salvation; but until the sinner is born again, called of God, re- 
newed in the spirit of his mind, the gospel is of no spiritual benefit 
to him. Paul could not make a Jew, to whom it was a stumbling 
block, receive it, nor did he try for that would have been casting a 
stumbling block in his way, which he was forbidden to do by the 
word of the Lord. "Cast not your pearls before swine; nor give 
that which is holy unto dogs." Nor would he have been less culpa- 
ble if he had tried to apply it to an unregenerate, unbelieving Gen- 
tile. He could not open the heart of a Lydia, but he could preach to 
her after her heart was opened by the Lord, for he was called for 
that purpose. When God fulfilled his promise on the day of Pente- 
cost, when three thousand were awakened by the spirit of God, 
Peter was there with the everlasting gospel ready to preach unto 
them Jesus; and wheri*he saw the effect with those who were pricked 
in the heart, and said men and brethren what must we do, he recog- 
nized them as the called of God, for it was to them he said, " The 
promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar 
off; even, as many as the Lord our God shall call." He did not 



APPENDIX. 167 



call on those mockers who were not pricked in their hearts, not 
called to repent; if he had preached to them until the day of his 
death he could not have made it the power of God unto salvation 
to one of them. They had no godly sorrow for sin, and therefore 
they could not repent. God, who says " I will have mercy on whom 
I will have mercy/' must give the spirit of repentance, for until he 
does no one can repent; that repentance which the faith of God 
produces. There can be no fruit without a tree, nor can there be 
any effect without a cause. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin 
nor the leopard his spots, neither can depraved man change his 
heart. " First make the tree good and its fruit will also be good." 
The power and influence of the gospel is the same in all ages; as 
was the case in the Apostolic age so it is to-day. God's ministers 
can not give life to the dead sinner, for eternal life is the gift of God 
and can be obtained in no other way ; but when they find a poor, 
heavy laden sinner saying, "Oh! that I knew where I might find 
the Lord," "men and brethren what must I do," "Lord save or I 
perish," "God be merciful to me a sinner," they can point him to 
the Lamb of God, and there is a power in the Gospel to that person 
and it has an effect with him. Those to whom Peter preached 
"gladly received the word." Paul inquired to know the will of 
the Lord and willingly obeyed. The Ethiopian to whom Philip 
preached Jesus went on his way rejoicing. God who works in his 
people to will, and to do of his good pleasure, makes them willing 
in the day of his power. 

Now dear brethren, as Jesus is the power of the everlasting Gos- 
pel and Christ all in all, we admonish you in the language of the 
Apostle Paul, "Be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in 
the work of the Lord, inasmuch as ye know that your labor is not 
in vain in the Lord." And " if any come unto you and bring not 
this Gospel, receive them not into your house," for says Paul/ 
" Though we or an angel from Heaven preach any other gospel unto 
you than that we have preached unto you let him be accursed." 
Jesus being the theme of your song, his word should be your guide. 
Therefore " Press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling 
of God in Christ Jesus." "Looking unto Jesus the author and 
finisher of our faith," " Who for the joy that was set before him 
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right 
hand of the throne pf God." The heavenly bliss you enjoy in the 
blessed gospel of God's dear son, which is as a river of salvation to 
your thirsty souls, is but a taste of that immortality that shall be 
eternally yours, for "eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have 
entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared 
for them that love Him." 

May the power of the Gospel uphold you and the God of Israel 
be your strength amidst all the toils, cares and sorrows while on 
your pilgrim journey, is our prayer. Farewell. 

Attest: J. STIPP, Moderator. 

J. T. Ceooks, Clerk. 



168 the editor's 



CORRESPONDING LETTER. 

The Siloam Association of Regular Baptists now in session with the 
Providence Church, Clackamas county, State of Oregon, to her 
sister Associations with whom she corresponds, sendeth Christian 
salutation : 

Dear Brethren : We have been blessed with the privilege of 
meeting together in our associate capacity once more in time, and 
enabled to meet our brethren and sisters who have assembled here 
from the different churches in peace and love, and of listening to 
the glad tidings of salvation proclaimed by our beloved Elders 
whose united efforts have been the setting forth the truth as it is in 
Jesus, likewise we were made glad in hearing from some of you by 
letter through your minutes with which you have favored us, thereby 
learning of the renewal of your Christian correspondence with us, 
as we are also glad to learn of your health and peace with which 
the Lord was blessing you and causing you to love one another, for 
the Scripture saith " we know that we have passed from death unto 
life because we love the brethren." This is a source of consolation 
to us, for we feel to realize that blessing in the bounds of this Asso- 
ciation; we hope that it may long continue so with us. We would 
be very happy could we have some of you to meet with us in per- 
son to witness and partake with us in our feasts of love, but the 
great distance between us prevents that personal greeting which we 
would like while here on earth we stay. But the time is fast ap- 
proaching when we hope to meet you all in that great Association 
above, where the Saints will meet and be complete and long together 
dwell; when all tears shall be wiped away from our eyes, and we 
shall be enabled to join in the praises of Him who died that we 
might live. But while it shall be our lot to remain here on earth 
we hope to have your prayers and Christian correspondence with 
us. You can see from the face of our minutes which we send you 
what we have done while together, also when and where we hope to 
meet again, at which time and place we shall hope to hear from you. 
May the Lord enable us to look to Him for every blessing needed 
for time and eternity, is our prayer. 

Attest: JOHN STIPP, Moderator. 

J. T. Crooks, Clerk. 



APPENDIX. 169 



From the (London) Gospel Standard. 

CHRIST PRECIOUS. 



A SERMON BY ME. VINE, PREACHED AT GOWER STREET CHAPEL, 
ON LORD'S DAY MORNING, DECEMBER IOtH, 1871. 



"I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even a man than the golden 
wedge of Ophir." — Isa. xiii: 12. 

There must be, my friends, a sovereign change wrought in the 
heart by the blessed Spirit of God before this can be done, for man's 
heart is set upon gold. I mean natural man. The natural or carnal 
man, his heart and his mind are set upon the things of this world, 
and gold is the principal thing of this world. But when the Spirit 
of God begins a soul-saving work in the sinner's heart, there is 
something more precious to him than gold. Gold will lose its 
charm when the Spirit of God is at work upon the heart. 

In looking at these words, we will just notice that in this 
chapter we have the threatening of • the destruction or of the over- 
throw of Babylon, and it indicates that there is something of the 
same kind and of the same nature goes on in the heart of every 
child of God. There is a threatening law enters into the sinner's 
conscience. The commandment comes and the sinner dies, before 
ever Christ can be made precious unto the soul. 

There are a few, according to the election of grace — a remnant they 
are called in the word of God, " according to the election of grace" — 
to whom the Lord Jesus Christ is exceedingly precious. And if 
there are any here this morning to whom He is precious, He is 
exceedingly precious, He is more precious than wealth, He is more 
precious to you than earth's deceitful name, or He is not precious at 
all. To those to whom He is precious, He is most precious ; yea, 
t He is the chiefest among ten thousand and the one altogether lovely 
unto their souls ; and they at times can appeal before the throne of 
grace to God in secret, and say, 

"I could from all things parted be, 
But never, never, Lord, from thee." 

]STow there is a plain truth. There are many things that are 
entwined around near and dear to God's children. I say many 
things. The world sometimes, the family sometimes, the business 
sometimes, cleave very closely ; but the real child of God, with the 
work of God's Spirit upon his heart, can appeal unto God and say 
he could from all these things be parted. Business and I must part ; 
the world and my soul must part ; the family ties must part ; 

"But never, never, Lord, from thee." 



170 THE EDITOR'S 



Look for a moment at the work of God upon the sinner's heart, 
and a man in a state of nature without the quickening power of the 
Spirit of God upon his heart. He may be compared to this Baby- 
lon. And O, what a Babylon, my friends, to live in ! What a 
Babylon is carnal nature ! What a Babylon I sa'y, is carnal nature 
in and of itself. The apostle tells us that man in a carnal state has 
no fear of God before his eyes, and that the poison of asps is under 
his tongue. What a state he is in ! But he is not shown this, nor 
convinced of sin until taught by the Spirit of God. We may speak 
this morning before you of the fallen nature, but only those whose 
eyes are open to see and whose hearts are broken to receive, can 
perceive the ruined state of fallen nature. 

We will try and look for a moment or two at the people of God 
to whom the Lord Jesus Christ is exceedingly precious. The 
apostle, speaking of them says: "And you hath He quickened who 
were dead in trespasses and in sin." Now you see, while in a state 
of nature there is no manifest difference between the election of 
grace and the world at large; for the apostle says : "Among whom 
also we all had our conversation in time past in the lusts of our 
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by 
nature the children of wrath even as others." Eph. ii : 3. No dif- 
ference you see. There we were, one and all, running the down- 
ward read that leadeth to destruction. We were all in that broad 
road tl at leadeth to eternal ruin. And O, what an unspeakable 
mercy it is for as many of us as are born of the Spirit of God, to 
know that he stopped us in our mad career of sin and folly. 
There must be my friends, a beginning of the work of grace upon 
a sinner's heart. He is not brought from the broad road that lead- 
eth down to destruction and to hell's jaw and raised to heaven, 
without something being known in his heart. We must insist this 
morning upon a beginning of the work of grace upon a sinner's 
heart, for the word of God tells us that "the carnal mind is at 
enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God neither 
indeed can be." The way that the Spirit of God begins a soul- 
saving work upon a sinner's heart is to Mound before He heals, to> 
show what he is as a poor, guilty, hell-deserving sinner, before he 
reveals the preciousness of a precious Christ to him. There are two 
sides you see, my friends, to the experience of the saved soul ; and 
therefore, in noticing the people to whom the Lord is precious, they 
are the people who are taught by the blessed Spirit of God their, last 
estate before a just and rigteous God, the depths of depravity in 
which the heart is sunk ; for when the Spirit of God begins with a 
sinner, He begins with the heart. When a sinner begins with God, 
he begins with his head. My friends where did our religion 
begin? Have we any religion at all? When did our religion 
begin ? Where is it and how is it carried on ? Is it in our souls? 
Many persons begin a religion themselves, begin as they say, to seek 
God, begin to love Him, begin to serve Him, and they carry it on 



APPENDIX. 171 



by the work, the power of their own strength, by their good doings 
and by their tongue. That is the way their religion is carried on, 
and they always have a stock of religion. Their mouths are always 
full of religion, and they are always telling what they are doing for 
the Lord. As a man said to me not long since : " he hoped that 
when he came upon his dying bed he should have a well spent life 
to account for." O, if you have no better religion than that friends, 
than a well spent life to look back upon, there is no salvation for 
you. We must have something more than a well spent life. When 
the grace of God reaches a sinner's heart, that grace of God teaches 
a man what bringeth salvation ; teaches him the depths of the 
ungodliness of his heart and this present evil world. But if you 
have the grace of God, and have the fear of God shed abroad in 
your heart, you will have to come to God like old Jacob, when you 
are come upon your dying bed, and say : " Few and evil have the 
days of my life been." 

Now, in noticing a little of the work of the Spirit of God upon 
the sinner's heart, we. ask : " Have we any religion at all, and 
where did our religion begin?" The whole saving work of grace 
in the sinner's heart gives him a pain at heart which the world can 
not ease; it gives him a distress of heart which the world can not 
cure. He may seek for it in the world, he may expect it in the 
world, and may be looking for it in the world, but his eyes will fail 
in looking for it here. There is a real state of heart leprosy that 
nothing but the blessed physician of souls can heal or ease. 

Has the blessed Spirit of God ever opened our blind eyes and 
shown us what we are as guilty sinners before a just, a holy, and 
a righteous God ? I know He will do the work in a sinner's heart 
and will bring to pass His strange acts there according to His own 
mind and will ; and therefore, when the blessed Spirit of God begins 
He begins very sovereignly, at times very gradually, very tenderly, 
very gently, as it were ; while at another time He cuts down the 
sinner as He cut down Saul of Tarsus. We read of a Timothy in 
the word of God and we read of a Saul of Tarsus in the word of 
God ; but we read that Timothy was brought to the same place that 
Saul of Tarsus was brought to. However quietly the Spirit may 
begin the work of grace upon the heart He brings the sinner by 
and by into a stripped state. 

" Nothing in my hand I bring; 
Simply to thy cross I cling ; 
Naked, come to thee for dress," etc. 

Now, we see when the blessed Spirit of God begins a soul-saving 
work upon the sinner's heart, however gently it may be done, the 
Spirit will never leave nor forsake the work of His own hands but 
will carry it on to the day of Jesus Christ, and perfect that work in 
the sinner's heart ; and His killing power and killing process upon 
the heart is to teach the sinner what he is as a guilty, hell-deserving 



172 the editor's 



sinner before a just, a holy, and a righteous God. The blessed 
Spirit, however long He may be at work in: r.e soul, will not leave 
the sinner till he has opened up and discovered to him the true state 
in which he stands before God. Now the sinner stands a law-breaker 
before God — he stands a law-condeinned sinner before God — and he 
goes to the word of God to see if there can be any comfort or con- 
solation there, to know whether there can be any hope for him in 
the word of God for such a miserable sinner as he sees and feels 
himself to be. He looks the word of God through, perhaps from 
Genesis to Revelation, and he finds the word of God to be a killing 
word in the soul. O, friends, what a marvel is the soul-killing 
power of the spirit in the soul ! He wounds the soul before he heals 
it. But, blessed be His great and holy name, wheresoever He kills 
He makes alive, and whom He wounds He heals. He does not 
leave the soul dead. He does not leave the soul wounded only ; but 
He must kill before He makes alive, and He wounds before He heals. 
And now, then, we notice further, the " election of grace" that 
the Lord is precious unto. I say they are condemned by the law of 
God. They see all their condemnation in the word of God, and they 
oft-times feel condemned under the ministry of the word, and they 
feel condemned when they come to bend their knees before the 
throne of grace. They feel an evil heart in them, and they are in a 
miserable state and condition. They feel themselves to be con- 
demned sinners at the throne of grace ; and when they come 
before the Lord Satan himself comes and presents himself; and as 
the sinner begs for mercy the enemy of souls whispers in his ear, 
" You go before a throne of grace ! Such a sinner as you appeal for 
mercy ! You know your own sins ; you know your own crimes ; 
you know what you areas a guilty sinner before a holy God; you 
have sinned beyond the reach of mercy; you are a miserable sinner, 
indeed. It is of no use to appeal, it is of no use your pouring out 
your heart, it is of no use your seeking for mercy. You may as 
well throw it all up, and spend the few days of your miserable life 
to this world, and make the best of it." Now, my friends, we have 
to say — 

" The vilest sinner out of hell, 
That lives to feel his need, 
Is welcome to a throne of grace, 
The Savior's blood to plead." 

And this precious Man that we have to speak of, His blood cleans- 
eth from all sin. 

Now we will notice how the blessed Spirit makes the law of Jesus 
Christ precious unto the soul ; for he, having begun the good work 
of grace in the sinner's heart, will not leave nor forsake this grace. 
It is a good work ; it opens the mind's eye and shows what He is. . 
I say it is a good work indeed. It is the commencing of a work 
upon a sinner's heart, but he does not know it. How many have 



APPENDIX. 173 



not been shown their true state and standing before the Lord. If 
you are brought before the throne of grace it is the work of grace 
upon your heart. " He will perfect that which concerneth you." 
And what is it that concerneth you ? If you are a law-breaker and 
condemned before the legal righteousness of God, the thing that con- 
cerns you is, "How can God be just and save your immortal soul?" 
He will make that plain ; also, how He can be just and yet save such 
sinners as you and feel ourselves to be? 

We will notice when the sinner is cut off by sin he will come 
before the throne seeking for mercy, and he will come with his mis- 
erable tale again and again, to tell the Lord how miserable and 
wretched he is, and how, if he were sent to hell, the righteous law 
of God would approve it well. He comes with his miserable case 
again, and again, and again. You would go to a physician with 
your whole case, with the real malady. Christ is a blessed Phys- 
ician of souls, and understands all sicknesses and disorders ; and we 
are welcome to the throne of grace, the sovereign blood to plead, and 
welcome to tell the Lord Jesus Christ what sinners we are. 

" The door of His mercy stands open all day, 
For the poor and the needy, who knock by the way." 

His grace is all precious and free, and therefore His grace is open 
and free to you, poor needy ones ; and Jesus sits upon the throne of 
grace and loves to hear poor sinners coming to state their cases before 
Him. How can a sinner come before the throne of grace? Now, 
friends, I know this part well, and I believe there are some here, who 
know this part. They seem to have no ray of hope in their hearts, so 
benighted are their souls; yet He still enables the poor things to come 
again and again. "Do, Lord, show me if there is any way ; I don't 
know what it is." It is by the power of God, and by the power of 
the Spirit of God, and by the enablings and drawings of that blessed 
Spirit who enables you to keep on as you do before you get any 
comfort or any promise. There was a doubt sometimes in my 
heart whether God would be gracious to me, and I used to tell my 
sad case and implore His mercy. I remember well one occasion, 
while at the throne of grace, I thought I must give up the means of 
grace ; sinking down in such a state of soul before God, and almost 
at the gates of despair ; but I went once more to the throne of grace, 
and while on the bended knee, the Lord spoke these words to me 
with power, sweetness, comfort and consolation ; " But now, thus 
saith the Lord that created thee, O, Jacob, and He that formed thee, 
O, Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by 
thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters 
I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow 
thee. When thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned, 
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." What does it mean ? I 
said. The blessing seemed too great. It took hold upon my heart 
with a power and with precious unction, sweetness, dew and savor, 



174 the editor's 



and there was a believing in the Lord Jesus Christ ; and the Lord 
Jesus Christ was to me at that moment more precious than gold. I 
tell you how it was. When the Lord was precious to and blessed 
me, when the word and His promise dropped into my heart, my 
burden was gone, my distress was gone, my malady was cured, and I 
was perfectly whole, and perfectly new, and perfectly clean, and per- 
fectly white, and perfectly holy before the Lord. I tell you this bless- 
ing had such an effect upon my heart that when I looked for my sins 
I could not find them. I wanted to bring some of my trouble back 
again but I could not. My sins were completely gone and the love of 
Christ was shed abroad in my heart. I w T as in a new world and I went 
to God's word and found it to be a new book. All the precious 
promises which I had overlooked or could not see were applied with 
precious power to my heart ; God's book was a new book, and I 
entered into God's word with the burden removed from off my back, 
with the condemnation off my soul, and it seemed like a new world ; 
everything seemed new. The change was in my heart. Here was 
condemnation taken away, and strong consolation cyme into its place; 
and here the Lord Jesus Christ, and His word, and his Gospel, were 
very precious to my soul. 

Now, then, we pass on, friends. I always like to know how a 
minister got his religion; and, therefore, we shall try to speak a 
little this morning upon it, and about him who is now addressing 
you. God worked in his heart, God burned it in his soul, and God, 
I trust, the blessed Savior, is carrying it on in his soul. Ofttimes, 
according to my experience, I think I shall not have the word 
again; my religion seems to be going at times. O friends, I tell 
you what I have then experienced : 

"Their pardon some receive at first 
And then, compell'd to fight, 

They find the latter stapes worst, 
And travel much by night." 

And after twenty-four years of the Lord's delivering power to my 
soul, I am led sometimes to question it, and the question with me is, 
'•Heaven or hell?" Such is the powerful temptation of the enemy 
upon the souls of the election of grace. God will have them to 
walk by faith, and not by sight. O, no. Don't you think, because 
God brings a soul into trouble and then delivers him, that he always 
walks in light. O, no. That is not the way. He will find the way 
so close that there seems to be no path at all. 

Now we would notice, Christ is precious to the people of God in 
his incarnation. And we have a witness from God's word to it. 
There was good old Simeon in the days of Christ, in the Temple; 
and he was a man full of the Holy Ghost, a just, a holy, and an 
upright man, and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that 
he should not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ. What a 
blessed revelation was that! And, therefore, as the parents of the 



APPENDIX. 175 



Lord Jesus Christ brought him into the Temple, in the manner and 
custom of the law, good old Simeon came in at the same moment, 
and he knew him, and he took him up in his arms, and said, " Lord, 
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have 
seen thy salvation." There was God in the heart. Now, my friends, 
you and I know what it is to value this precious Christ of God. 

" 'Till God in human flesh I see, 
My thoughts no comfort find ; 
The holy, just and sacred Three 
Are terrors to my mind. 

"While some on their own works rely, 
And some of wisdom boast, 
I love the Incarnate Mystery, 
And there 1 fix my trust." 

The Incarnate Mystery, and Christ incarnate, I tell you, is very 
precious indeed to my soul. Is the babe in Bethlehem precious to 
your soul? He is, if you are manifestively the people of God, the 
election of grace. 

"Almighty God sigh'd human breath, 
The Lord of life experienced death ; 
How it was done, we can't discuss, 
But this we know, 'twas done for us." 

O, what a solemn verse is this! It needs to be written in letters of 
gold. He who lay in his Father's bosom from all eternity, conde- 
scended to be a worm. O, the condescension of the Lord of life 
and glory ! He condescended to be a worm. He condescended to 
come down in this our world to suffer, bleed and die; to suffer for 
the unjust, to bring sinners to God. 

Again, friends, look how the Lord Jesus Christ is precious to you 
by the covenant of grace; I say, we must look back to the ancient 
settlements of the covenant of grace, when the blessed Trinity of 
Persons, Gpd the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, in 
covenant, agreed to ransom and redeem the church of God, and to 
save a peculiar people, zealous of good works. And here we have 
God the Father choosing us. He chose a number that no man could 
number, among black and white, high and low, rich and poor, and 
made them all one in Christ; and each one is made experimentally 
to know what the Apostle said: "And has raised us up together, 
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ." Here is the 
work of the Spirit of God upon the soul. 

But we notice their quality for a moment. He did not choose out 
the best of mankind, but he chose sovereignly, richly and freely, 
and set his love upon one here and another there, and wrote their 
names down in the Lamb's book of life that there may be no mis- 
take about the election of grace ; and if we are not written in the 
Lamb's book of life, we are passed by. 

He is precious in. the gospel that we have to preach to you. 
Sovereign love, friends. God set his love upon his people in eter- 



176 the editor's 



nity. Now, I have thought sometimes that God seemed as if he 
chose the worst. Some I know amongst them were the very worst 
of sinners, and were the very ring-leaders of sin while in their 
natural state; but God chose them and wrote their names down in 
the Lamb's book of life. The Lord Jesus Christ in the councils of 
Jehovah was needed, much needed. As dear Mr. Gadsby says in 
one of his hymns : 

"In the councils of Jehovah, 
He was needed much indeed; 
There to stand <a, mighty Lover!) 
In the church's room and stead, 

As her Surety 
And her everlasting Head." 

But he saw them ruined in the fall. We look in the covenant of 
grace, and there we see how God saves his people. He saves them 
because he will save them, saves them for his blessed name's sake. 

Just one word upon his incarnation. He took unto his heavenly 
nature our human nature, because God saw that without the shed- 
ding of blood there could be no remission of sins, he saw how 
necessary it was, how essential it was that the Lord of life should 
take the course that I have mentioned and come and die; and, 
therefore, he took our human nature, was born in a stable and laid 
in a manger — took our nature upon him to be able to die and be 
able to plead for the church of God. 

We come now to the precious doctrine of redemption. It is sin 
imputed unto a precious Christ, and his precious righteousness im- 
puted unto us. O, what a sweet theme is this — our sin imputed 
unto him — the sins of the whole church of God upon him; made to 
be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the right- 
eousness of God in him. Sin in the church of God must be cleansed, 
the mighty debt must be paid, the broken law must be fulfilled; and 
so Christ went to the very end of the law to satisfy justice on the 
church's account. Christ has redeemed us. Here comes the glorious 
gospel — Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being 
made a curse for us; there is no salvation seen out of a precious 
Christ, and we see he was made sin for the election of grace, and he 
redeems the election of grace from the curse, being made a curse for 
them; for the Scripture says, "Cursed is every one that hangeth on 
a tree." 

Now we were all deficient, and in consequence of that the law 
sounds in our ears, "Pay me what thou owest." We must be bank- 
rupts, you see, my friends. 

'"Tis perfect poverty alone 
That sets the souls at large, 
While we can call one mite our own, 
We have no full discharge." 

We come now to the very pith and to the very marrow of the 
glorious gospel of the grace of God. And now, then, says the 



APPENDIX. 177 



Apostle, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? 
It is God that justifieth." God justifies the elect sinner that has 
nothing to pay. Though he is a bankrupt upon the dunghill, he is 
a beggar for mercy, and pleads for mercy for Jesus' sake ; and who 
shall lay anything to his charge? "It is God that justifieth." God 
justifies the sinner because he loves him, and the Lord Jesus Christ 
is made exceedingly precious unto him. The world and all its 
pleasures lose their charms when the Lord Jesus Christ is made 
precious to the soul, when a man is made a believer in the Lord 
Jesus Christ; as the Apostle Peter tells us, "Unto you that believe 
He is precious." And as the soul is brought to believe in Jesus, and 
to hang on him, being taught by the blessed Spirit of God, he will 
come and say, 

"I can but perish, if I go, 
I am resolved to try, 
For if I stay away, I know 
I must for ever die." 

Here is believing in the Lord Jesus Christ; here is the venturing 
upon him ; here is the trusting in the arms of Jesus, sink or swim : 
"If I sink, I sink. I will trust in a precious Jesus." 

" It is God that justifies;" and now God justifies this sinner as 
he comes pleading the merits and righteousness of a precious Jesus, 
He has nowhere else to trust. He is one of the election of grace ; 
he comes trusting in the mercy of God, and who shall charge him 
with anything ? Who is he that condemns such a sinner ? Who can 
condemn when God justifies? Now hear what Paul says: "It is 
Christ that died ; yea, rather, that maketh intercession for us." Who 
can condemn such a soul as this? Here is one of the election of 
grace, and here is one of whom we may say : " I will make a man 
more precious than fine gold, even a man than the golden 
wedge of Ophir." Who shall condemn him ? It is Christ that died ; 
and if the law condemn the soul, if guilt and sin condemn the soul, 
yet it is Christ that died for him. Does the world not condemn 
thee, poor soul ? Does sin not condemn thee ? Dost thou not con- 
demn thyself sometimes? Yet who is he that condemns thee ? Not 
Christ, for He died. There is my precious rock ; there is where I 
am trusting. He is my precious rock ; there is where I am trusting. 
He is more precious to me than fine gold. 

Now, then, here is a little sweet comfort and consolation for thee, 
poor condemned sinner : 

" For all that come to God by Him 
Salvation he demands, 
Points to their names upon His breast 
And shows His bleeding hands." 



Therefore, 



12 



Eternal life at His request 
To every saint is given ; 

Safety on earth and after death 
The plenitude of heaven." 



178 THE EDITOR^ 



And this just brings us to where the Apostle says : " Who shall 
separate us from the love of Christ ?" Rom. viii : 35. Who shall 
separate thee, poor soul, from this precious Jesus that we are speak- 
ing of this morning? This is a precious love. To know in your 
mind how precious Christ is to you in His blood, and how precious 
He is in His righteousness ; therefore to say : " Who shall separate 
us from the love of Christ." It is an unchangeable, immutable 
love. 

" My soul through many changes goes, 
"His love no variation knows." 

It is everlasting ; the love of Christ to His people is unchangeable. 
O, how precious He is in His love ! How precious He is in glory ! 
How precious to know a precious Christ ! And to you I have to 

say : 

" Paid is the mighty debt we owed ; 
Salvation is of grace." 

A mighty debt, indeed ! We have nothing to pay ; Jesus Christ 
paid off the whole score. The law we have broken, He obeyed. The 
debt we have contracted, He has paid ; and therefore, who shall lay 
any charge to God's elect ? 

Again : He is precious in His blood ; because here the soul comes 
and hides under the precious love and blood of Christ. I have no 
other hope in death, but only in the love, blood and righteousness of 
Christ. I feel that I can live with such a religion as this, and I feel 
that I can die with such a religion as this, centering wholly and 
solely in a precious Christ. His perfect obedience, His precious love, 
His dying blood, and the robe of righteousness He wrought out and 
brought in for poor sinners. And it is all of rich, free and sover- 
eign grace. " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me 
bless His holy name." To Him be all the praise, and all the power, 
and all the glory. 

May the Lord add His blessing. Amen. 



The following beautiful letter of the exposition how God is in 
the soul, is taken from the Eegular Baptist Magazine, Vol. 3, June 
1, 1872: 

GOD IN THE SOUL. 

Dear Brother Burxham s I was thinking not long since upon 
the subject of man's being born again, when this thought came into 
my mind: "Did God ever dwell in corruption?" If there is 
nothing done for the soul of man in regeneration or the new birth, 



APPENDIX. 179 



He does ; for it is said that God dwells in the man that is born 
again. (1 Cor. iii: 16, 17; 2 Cor. vi: 16; 1 John iv: 16.) And 
the soul as well as the body, in its natural state, is corrupt, sinful 
and full of all unrighteousness, (Jer. xvii: 5; Eccl. vii: 3; Rom. 
iii: 10-13,) and in Eph. his mind and jiesh (synonymous with soul 
and body) are in perfect harmony lusting after the things of the 
flesh. (Eph. ii : 3.) But when God was manifest in the flesh He 
did not dwell in a corrupt body like ours, for the angel said to 
Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of 
the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing 
which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God," (Luke 
i: 35,) which when born was God manifest in the flesh, (1 Tim. iii: 
16;) which flesh, in consequence of the work of the Holy Ghost 
upon it, was called that holy thing free from sin. (Rom. vii : 3 ; 
Heb. vii: 26.) So likewise when God is manifest in us He will not 
dwell in corruption. And as our flesh yet serves the law of sin, 
(Rom. vii: 25,) and lusts against the spirit, (Gal. v: 17,) and wars 
against the soul, (1 Pet. ii: 11,) it must be the Holy Ghost comes 
upon our souls, (Eph. ii : 1,) by which it is " purified," (1 Pet. i : 22,) 
"washed and sanctified by the spirit," (1 Cor. vi: 11,) cleansed by 
the blood of Christ, (1 John i: 7,) therefore holy," (1 Cor. iii; 17) 
" freed from sin," (John viii: 36 and Rom. vi: 7,) and now can not 
sin because born of God. (1 John v: 8.) This soul loves God, 
(Songs iii: 1, "Him whom my soul loveth,) "and every one that 
loveth is born of God." (1 John iv: 7.) And as Christ was God 
manifest in the flesh, which flesh was free from sin and separate 
from sinners, (Heb. vii: 26) and dwelt in this sinful world or earth, 
and this earth is to perish away and undergo a change, (Heb. i: 10, 
11, 12,) so God is manifest in the soul (1 John iv: 16) that is born 
again and cleansed from sin, (Rom. vi : 7,) which soul dwells in an 
earthly house (2 Cor. v : 1) that will perish and undergo a change. 
(Gen. iii: 19; Phil, iii: 21.) And while the blessed Savior dwelt 
on earth, He went a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, etc. 
(Isa. liii: 3.) So the soul that is born of t God, while it dwells in 
this earthly tabernacle, groans to be clothed upon with its house 
from heaven that mortality migfyt be swallowed up of life. (1 Cor. 
v: 2-4.) 

And I would further say that the soul is not the life of the body ; 
if it is you will have to kill the soul before you can destroy the 
body, as you must reach the seat of life in anything before you can 
kill it. And the soul can not be killed by man, (Matt, x: 28,) but 
the body can. And by this I understand that mail has a living 
body like all the animal creation; and he has a living soul that can 
not be killed by man, that dwells in this living body. Before 
regeneration this soul is Satan's palace (Luke xi: 22) where he 
dwells and leads the man captive at his will, (2 Tim. ii: 26,) 
and his goods are in peace, until the stronger man shall come 
upon him, and overcome him and take from him all his armor 



180 THE EDITOR^ 



armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoil. (Luke xi : 22.) 
Satan trusted to have kept the soul until he could pass beyond the 
grave with it when he would have the man secure. But now the 
spoil being divided, the stronger man having taken possession of the 
soul, he can only war in the flesh against the soul till the body 
goes to the grave when he will lose all hold, for the body will be 
raised from the grave glorified. So then sin must come from our 
lusts that war in our members, (James iv: 1,) body or flesh, 
against (not in) our souls. (1 Pet. ii: 11.) As Satan dwells in our 
bodies, in our flesh dwells no good thing. (Rom. cii: 18.) And 
as God dwells in our souls, (1 John iv : 16,) with our minds we 
serve the law of God. (Rom. vii: 25.) And as we can do all 
things through Christ who strengthened us, (Phil, iv : 13,) and as 
our feet, legs, hands, arms, eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, etc., are mem- 
bers of the body, and as greater is He that is in you than he that 
is in the world, we are commanded to keep our body under and 
bring it into subjection, (1 Cor. ix: 27,) mortify its deeds, (Col. iii: 
9; Rom. viii: 13,) yield all the members of our body instruments 
of righteousness unto God. (Rom. vi. 13.) Those limbs that once 
carried you to the race field, to the ball room, to the card table, etc., 
use now to carry you to the house of God, to the secret grove and the 
altar of prayer. Those hands that once you beat your fellow man 
with, and handled the wine glass, and shuffled the cards, now use to 
minister to the poor, contribute to the needy, and in handling the 
word of God in search of its sacred truths. Those eyes that once 
delighted in poring over a novel, and prying into all manner of 
abomination, use now in poring over the Bible, and in reading 
religious works founded on truth by the saints of God, etc. That 
tongue that once delighted to take the name of God in vain, to 
speak falsehood, and engage in all manner of foolish song and filthy 
jesting, use now in telling what the Lord has done for your soul, 
" speaking to one another in pslams, hymns, and spiritual songs, 
singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord." That 
throat as an open sepulchre you once used to let out the corruptions 
of the heart showing that the dead dwelt there, now use to speak 
the praises of God, to show that the dead is alive. Those cars that 
you once used in hearing all manner of evil generally, now open to 
the glad tidings of the gospel of Christ. Those lips that once 
molded words of vanity, use now in the service of God. That 
brain that once was a storehouse for the wisdom and vanity of the 
world, now store with a knowledge of the word of God, which is 
able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith in Christ. 
There is a law in all these members of the body that wars against 
the law of the mind or soul, and that law (in the members) is love 
to sin, lust after the things of the flesh. But keep your body under, 
mortify its deeds, and yield those members instruments of righteous- 
ness unto God, and put off, concerning your former conversation, the 
old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts (Eph. 



APPENDIX. • 181 



iv: 22) that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the 
flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past 
of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, 
when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, 
banquetings, and abominable idolatries. (1 Pet. iv : 2,3.) Now as 
you profess to be a " new creature in Christ Jesus, and that old 
things are passed away," (2 Cor. v: 17,) let your conversation be as 
beeometh the gospel of Christ, (Phil, i : 27,) and show out of a good 
conversation your works with meekness of wisdom. (James iii : 13.) 
Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may 
know how ye ought to answer every man, (Col. iv : 29,) knowing that 
evil communications corrupt good manners. (1 Cor. xv : 33.) And 
thus put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteous- 
ness and true holiness, (Eph. iv: 25,) that your conversation may be 
in Heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus 
Christ. (Phil, iii: 20.) All this, Paul says, "is nothing more 
than your reasonable service." (Rom. xii: 1.) O, my dear breth- 
ren, may we remember that we profess like Paul, " By the grace of 
God I am what I am," (1 Cor. xv: 10,) and also that actions speak 
louder than words ; and when we follow the, world into all their 
vanities, and engage in all their filthy conversation, we are saying 
to the world, "This is what the grace of God has done for me." 
Weli might they turn upon us and say : " If this is all that the grace 
of God does for a man, I do n't want the grace of God." 

But to return. The lusts or power of sin in those members will 
often bring us into captivity to the law of sin and death, and cause 
us to cry in soul, "O wretched man that E am, who shall deliver 
me from this death." (Rom. vii : 24.) So now this man will join 
with the saints of old, when in adversity, " My soul is sore 
vexed," (Psa. vii : 3,) " deliver my soul," (ver. 4,) " my soul 
thirsteth for the living God," (Psa. cxliii,) " my soul is among 
lions," (lvii: 4,) "my soul is bowed clown," "O God, my soul 
thirsteth for Thee in a dry land," " my soul followeth hard after 
Thee," (lxiii: 1-8;) but in prosperity "I will declare what the 
Lord hath done for my , soul," (lxvi;) "Thou hast delivered my 
soul," (cxvi : 8,) "My soul shall be joyful in the Lord," (xxxv:9,) 
" O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul out of the grave," (being 
buried in the ruins of the fall,) " that my soul may sing praises 
unto God," (xxx: 3,12,) " Therefore, gather not my soul with 
sinners," (xxvi : 9). And joins with Mary and says: "My soul 
doth magnify the Lord," etc. (Lake i : 46.) And the reason of 
the soul's cries and groans is, when the clouds overshadow for 
awhile she looks at the corrupt house in which she dwells. " Weep- 
ing may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning," 
(Psa. xxx: 5.) "When the Sun of righteousness arises with healing 
in His wings," then the soul exclaims, " How pleasant to the 
eyes to behold the Sun." Now if this soul is not washed, cleansed, 
purified and holy, how could it send forth those holy longings, 



182 the editor's 



breathings, sighs, groans, and exultations of praise? For if it is 
corrupt, sinful, and dead in sin, it would never cry after God once 
nor desire his presence. But it is washed in regeneration, renewed 
by the Holy Ghost, created in Christ Jesus, hence a new creature in 
Christ, for old things passed away in the washing. 

But if the man is created in Christ Jesus before the foundation 
of the world, when were the good works ordained for him to walk 
in, seeing the good works were ordained before the creation in 
Christ took place? (Eph. ii: 10.) I believe the washing of regen- 
eration is cleansing the soul from sin; renewing of the Holy Ghost 
is creating in Christ Jesus, and it comes forth a heaven-born soul, 
prepared to walk in those good works before ordained for it to' walk 
in. If so, then it is as the Savior says, "I in you and you in Me; 
I in the Father and the Father in Me." (John xiv: 10-20.) So 
that our life is hid with Christ in God, and when Christ who is our 
life shall appear, then we shall also appear with him in glory. (Col. 
iii : 3, 4.) The Scriptures do testify that the second advent of 
Christ will be in His glorified state, and that His saints shall appear 
with Him. (2 Thes. i: 7, 10.) And these saints I believe to be 
the souls of them that, are beheaded for the witness of Jesus and 
for the word of God, which worship not the beast, (Rev. 20: 4;) 
which souls are "quickened together" or into union with Christ in 
the new birth. (Eph. ii : 5.) And when Christ shall come with 
His saints, in glory, "the rest of the dead" or "these vile bodies 
shall be changed and fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body." 
(Phil, iii : 22.) That is, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven 
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump 
of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which 
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the 
clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with 
the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 
Thes. iv: 16-18.) -O, dear brethren, these ought to be comforting 
words to us, who have the humble hope that our souls have been 
"quickened into union with Christ" and changed from natural to 
spiritual, that our mortal bodies shall be quickened by the same 
Spirit (Rom. vii : 11) and made spiritual. (1 Cor. xv: 44.) When 
both soul and body of the natural Adam sinner will be purged 
from all sin, created in Christ Jesus and conformed to His lovely 
image. (Rom. viii: 22.) In whose likeness David says we shall 
be satisfied. (Psa. xvii : 15.) Then bless the Lord O my soul, all 
that is in me praise His holy name for His wonderful works to the 
children of men. O, my dear brethren, how stands it with us at 
present were we to hear the announcement from heaven, "Prepare 
to meet thy God, O Israel?" To those that are in the habit of 
attending places of worldly amusement, either secret or public, I 
would ask how would you like for this announcement from heaven 
to find you in those places? Would we be saying by our actions, 



APPENDIX. 183 



" Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly ?" Watch, for ye know not 
the day nor the hour ! And remember we must live at His feet if 
we wish to die in His arms. 

Your brother in Christ, 

JAMES J. GILBERT. 
South Fork, Ky., March 22, 1872. 



IN HEAVEN ABOVE, WHERE ALL IS LOVE. 



A few more Sabbaths here 

And sorrows on our way, 
And we shall reach that ceaseless rest — 

An endless Sabbath day. 

Chorus — Ther'l be no sorrowing there ; 

All singing grace, free grace. 

In heaven above, where all is love, 

Ther'l be no sorrowing there. 

2. A few more storms shall rage 

Across the hills of time, 
And we shall be where storms are not, 
A far serener clime. 

3. A few more rains shall beat 

Around this earthly ball, 
And we shall be where angels meet, 

And billows never roll. > 

4. A few more years at best, 

A few more winters come, 
And we shall be with them that rest, 
And never more to roam. 

5. A few more troubles in 

A wicked world of sin, 
And we shall be with the redeem'd, 
And never more feel pain. 

'6. A few more struggles here, 
A few more partings o'er, 
A few more toils, a few more tears, 
And we shall weep no more. 

7. A few more songs of love 

Among saints at this place, 
And we shall meet in heaven above, 
All shouting grace, grace, grace. 

8. And now, O Lord, prepare 

Us all for that great day ; 
Oh, wash us in thy precious blood, 
And guide us on thy way. 

— UITTS. 



OBSEE^r^HB^, 



ALL PERSONS PLEASE HEAD. 



The Undersigned is the Sole Proprietor of a Publication, viz.: . 

The Genevan New Testament; 

Reprinted from a very rare Old English copy, dated London, 1594, and pub- 
lished together with King James' version of the New Testament in one vol- 
ume, compared in parallel columns; with an "Address to the People of God," 
a "Family Record," etc. Pages entire, 764; fine edition and all complete, 
which we will forward to order, post paid, on receipt of $2 per volume. 
Address, 

ALBERT IF. TJITTS, 

Whitestown, Boone Connty, Ind. 



